Echoes Down the Stream
by lottielovebuzz
Summary: 'What's your name, boy?" I asked, still petting it and closely inspecting those eyes. Those grey, with small flecks of blue eyes. They looked so familiar, and yet I couldn't quite place them. 'Snuffles.' A voice answered from behind us and Mary and I looked behind us to see James Potter strolling casually towards us... SB/OC. Marauder-Era.
1. Chapter I

**_Okay, I'll be honest... I had no intentions of posting this until I had finished my Pirates of the Caribbean story, "Now or Forever", but I'm just too eager to wait. However, please be aware the next update won't be till then... I'm posting it now, but won't be updating it till "Now or Forever" is finished._**

**_Now, this is a Sirius Black/OC fic, set during the Marauder's time at Hogwarts, so if you don't like that, then don't read. It is also written in my OC's - Kara - point of view, so another thing, that if you don't like, you better hit the back button now._**

**_The first few chapters are going to be long, but after that I've cut them down to a decent length. _**

**_The rating will change to "M" in later chapters. :)_**

**_I think that is all... oh, wait it's not... the summary may change._**

**_Disclaimer for the whole story - I don't own Harry Potter._**

* * *

_~You ask where we will stand in the winds that will howl,  
As all we see will slip into the clouds.  
So come down from your mountain,  
And stand where we've been,  
You know our breath is weak and our bodies thin.~_

_Mumford and Sons - Babel._

* * *

**Echoes Down the Stream.**

**Chapter I.**

'Come on you two.' She ordered, stopping momentarily to look at the both of us, mainly because we were trailing shortly behind her. Her hands were on her hips and she was tapping her foot impatiently.

'You're moving at a snail's pace, it's like you don't want to go back.' She added as we finally caught up with her and she started walking again.

'Ma', the only reason we go back is to get away from you.' I replied, a grin on my lips. My mousse brown hair hung over one of my shoulder as it was pulled into a side ponytail.

'Aye, and your nagging.' My sister added, running a hand through her blonde hair, her lips also pulled into a grin.

'Well, excuse me for making sure you have everything.' Mother responded with mock-hurt.

My sister and I looked at each other, we both had the same blue eyes that Mother had.

Our eyes met for a second before we turned back to Mum.

'Sorry, Mum.' We apologised in unison and then continued pushing our carts through the train station in silence.

We received a few odd looks due to our cargo, after all, each cart held a large trunk and atop of each of them lay a cage, in my sister's cage was a barn owl, it's large amber eyes trained on my cage, which contained a large Maine Coon cat.

'It's a good thing we're in different Houses, Kara.' My sister stated, waving with one hand to both animals, who were in a staring contest.

I grinned as I watched my large cat kneading its paws on the blanket I had put in there.

'Scotia would definitely lose that fight, Clair.' I informed, watching the owl move it's head in a circle and then laughing when Clair sped up in order to get her owl away from that cat.

My cat then turned away, his tail in the air as it won and managed to scare the owl away, he turned in his cage and turned his green eyes on to me. 'You're the size of a terrier and actually deadly, o' course you'd win, Caledonia.'

_But then again, Scotia has large talons and precise hearing and the ability to fly and can get higher than Caledonia. _I thought, but Donnie didn't need to know that.

I released one hand from the bar of my cart and reached through the holes of the cage to brush my fingers through his long tabby coat.

Before long we had reached our destination. I removed my fingers and gripped the bar on my cart; I had done this four times before and yet it still seemed nerve racking.

'Right, Kara. Go on.' Mum ordered, signalling to the brick wall that separated platform nine and ten.

I took a deep breath and started running, it was always better to run; run and close your eyes. It made everything so much easier. I didn't even think about the fact people could be watching me run to a wall. The Muggles would think I was insane, running into, as far as they were concerned, a solid wall. As soon as I reached the wall, where, by the laws of physics, I should've crashed into, I instead vanished, going through the brick wall and coming out the other end into a different train station.

I looked at the scarlet train that was the only train on the platform, and read the gold writing with a wide smile. _The Hogwarts Express._

I sighed with relief, already I was starting to feel better. Just the fact I was on the platform to get the train that would take me back to Hogwarts made me feel content. The summer had been long and exceptionally boring, the only upside was Dad brought home a Dalmatian pup that had been abandoned and needed some care. Despite the fact he had to care for the dog, he also had to work at his veterinary surgery, so he naturally asked me to take care of the pup when he was away.

But that was the only upside, Owen and Craig were still technically staying at home (they had their own house with their loved ones, but still came over every day), and despite the fact I loved my brothers, they drove me insane! Owen, who was now an Auror always made me feel stupid, true, he was the smartest of all of us, but did he always have to rub it in?

And Craig, well, he was just a pain; over protective as always, at least this year at Hogwarts I would get some breathing space. When he was there for the first four years of my education, he was so damn protective of me, always making sure I was fine, I would never be able to eat at breakfast, lunch or dinner as he would be over making sure everything was _all right. _Truth be told I was exceptionally happy that I was a Gryffindor and he was a Ravenclaw like the rest of the family, otherwise I might've snapped by now, and wouldn't be going to Hogwarts but to Azkaban instead.

Soon, Mum and Clair followed me through the wall onto platform 9 and 3/4. My sister was born a year later than me, so was simply in the year below me; 4th year. Usually she would be the one Mother fussed over (what with being the youngest), but due to the fact I was sitting my OWLs this year, I took top priority.

'Ma', I'm gonna go and find Mary, all right?' I stated as I scanned the crowd looking for my best friend.

'All right, but don't get on that train without seeing me again, I have to talk to you about a few things.' Mum reminded, before turning her attention back to Clair and I silently took my leave, pushing my way through the crowd as I tried to find Mary.

'Kara! Oi, Kara look over here!' I turned my head to the side, and saw Mary shoving her cart towards me, a grin on her face and her fringe falling into her eyes. She swept her black hair back over her shoulders and pulled me into a hug as she finally reached me.

'Well, if it isn't my highland sister.' I joked, laughing as I wrapped my arms around Mary's back as well.

'And my lowland sister.' Mary replied, finally letting go of me and placing one hand back onto her luggage cart. 'How've you been?'

'Bored.' I replied, running my fingers through my ponytail, regarding my friend with a raised eyebrow. 'And you?'

'Bloody same, there's nothin' t'do here in England.' Mary replied, looking through the crowds, apparently searching for something.

'What you looking for Mary?' I asked, curious with the way she was acting. I leaned forward to follow her eyesight and she quickly snapped her eyes back to me.

'Nothin'.' She muttered, her eyes flicking slightly in the direction she was looking in before.

'Really? Well, I don't believe you.' I taunted, my eyes finally finding what Mary was looking at. 'Cause, if I'm not mistaken, you were looking at Benedict Grayson.'

Mary blushed, her arms crossing over her chest in the defensive manner she always used when she didn't want to admit to anything. 'Cause it's you, Kara, I'll admit it. I kinda developed a wee crush on him.'

I couldn't stop myself from grinning widely. 'I knew it!'

'Knew what, darling?' Mum's voice asked from behind me.

'Ma', what did I tell you about calling me that in public? I'm 15 now.'

'But you'll always be my darling,' Mum replied, placing a hand on top of my head, just adding to the embarrassment I was suffering. 'Now, the thing I wanted to say to you. It's your OWLs this year, now I know you've not decided about whether or not you want to work in the same department I work in, or whether you maybe want to work alongside your Father.' Mother stopped, taking a pause in all her talking, making sure I was actually listening to her. 'But, if you want to follow in my footsteps, try to do your best in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. As well as the usual, you know, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts... you know the drill. But if you stick in at them, and you're able to continue on for NEWTs, there is no reason why you shouldn't get a job in my department, because I'll be able to get a good word in for you as well.'

I smirked at Mary whilst Mum was talking, but I still listened to her, as what she was saying was useful and worth listening to. She had been there and done it all, and now she was at the top of the department she worked in for the Ministry of Magic.

'Ma' that was my plan.' I responded with a roll of my eyes before I pulled her into a tight embrace. 'I'll see you at Christmas.'

'Remember we're going to your Uncle Hamish's place for it, so no-'

'Yeah, yeah, no talk of magic, I know. But if you want me to get back to Hogwarts, you better let me go.'

Mum released me with a smile on her lips. She opened her mouth.

'I'll keep an eye on Clair,' I cut her off; it was the same every year.

She smirked and went to say something else.

'And I'll stay out of trouble, as far as I can, anyways.' I responded, starting to walk away from Mum and go to board the train, my face was completely turned away from her. 'And I'll stop taking the words out of your mouth!'

Mary giggled and nudged my ribs with her elbow. 'You really drive her insane.'

'_I _drive _her _insane. Oh, that's the wrong way of putting things.'

Mary just giggled again as we moved forward to the train door. I lifted up Caledonia's cage and then pulled out my wand from my jean's pocket. '_Mobiliarbus._'

I pointed my wand to my trunk and it levitated a few inches up in the air, Mary followed my actions and her trunk soon did the same.

'Right, are we gonna find a compartment?' Mary asked as she picked up her cat, Alba's cage.

We walked beside our floating trunks, looking into every compartment, trying to find a empty one, or one that held someone they actually knew.

Eventually, though, we found one that contained our fellow Gryffindor girls that we shared the dorm with.

'All right girls?' Mary greeted as we opened the door and entered the compartment, knowing it would be all right with the other girls. We raised our wands and our trunks flew up in the air, sitting on the railing where the other girls cases were.

In the compartment was Lily, Marlene and Dorcas, they were the more popular Gryffindor girls; not that Mary or I cared about that, we were quite happy to blend into the background and not be the centre of attention. Truthfully, when I - much to my family and I's shock - was placed in Gryffindor rather than Ravenclaw (even though the Sorting Hat had thought of putting me there), I had low opinions of them. It took me until second year to befriend them. With Mary though, I had bonded with her immediately, mainly due to the fact we were both born in Scotland. Mary up north in the Highlands, and me in Central Scotland, closer to Glasgow than Edinburgh.

Lily had her auburn hair down and hanging over her shoulders, her green eyes set on Mary and I as she greeted us with a wide smile, moving over slightly just to give us more room.

Marlene had her blonde hair in a loose bun, her curls falling carelessly over her shoulders and face. She had been in a deep conversation with Dorcas, who had her black hair up in a ponytail, but when we entered they stopped and greeted us with a kind "hello".

I sat down in one of the empty seat and opened Caledonia's cage, who, happy to be out of his confinements, jumped down from the chair and stretched on the floor. Mary followed her example and let Alba out from her cage, before sitting down on the seat opposite.

'Kara?' Mary called as soon as she sat down. 'Why d'you have twa money purses on your belt?'

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked down, then groaned in annoyance, sure enough, I had two pouches instead of the usual one.

'For goodness sake, Mum gave it to me to hold for Clair and must've forget to ask me for it back. I guess I'm gonna have t'go and find her.'

I stood up again, careful not to stand on my cat and moved from the compartment. 'Won't be long, girls.'

I untied Clair's purse from my belt and tried to figure out where my sister had got to. That was the only problem with the train, it wasn't organised by House, like Hogwarts actually was, so people integrated and wherever there was an empty compartment with people they knew, they sat in there.

However, Clair always had a favourite carriage of the train and I knew she wouldn't go anywhere else, as she was never one for change. It kind of annoyed her when I was placed in Gryffindor, instead of Ravenclaw, she hoped and prayed she would go to Ravenclaw as she didn't want to be another one who was different, and her wish was granted.

I was coming up to where my sister liked to go but only to be blocked by a large group of girls, standing in the passageway.

''Scuse me,' I muttered, trying to fight my way through the crowd, they moved ever so slightly but I still couldn't get through. 'Excuse me.' I repeated but once again received the same treatment. After trying it one more time I lost my patience, truthfully it didn't take that much anyway.

I raised my wand and pointed it to the girls that were in front of me. '_Ventus._'

A strong blast of wind appeared from the tip of my wand, causing the group of girls to be pushed back slightly and it brought their attention to me.

'T'be honest, I probably don't wanna know, but why are you all congregating in the corridor of the train?'

They didn't answer me. They just looked at me as if the answer was right in front of me, or as if I had three heads. I was answered though when Annie Turner turned her head slightly and looked towards the compartment that they were gathered outside.

I sighed heavily, right so the reason they were gathered in the corridor was because of the people in that compartment, but who?

I closed my eyes for a split second before I moved forward and opened the compartment door.

The other girls seemed to thaw out and started moving forward, trying to catch a look of the people inside of it, and I quickly jumped inside of it, shutting the door behind me and then turned to the boys that were sitting down on the chairs, all of them looking at me with raised eyebrows.

'Ah, this explains everything now.' I stated as I looked at them, a small smirk on my lips. 'I should've known when I saw Annie Turner.'

The four most popular boys in the school, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Sirius Black, were seated in this compartment and _that _was why nearly twenty girls were gathered outside. They had their own fan club that followed them about everywhere, though, truthfully it was mainly Sirius Black that gained their attention, they were all trying - and failing - to get his attention.

'Explains what?' James asked, like everyone else on the train, still not into their school uniform yet.

'Why the female population of this train is gathered outside your compartment.' I informed them, folding my arms over my chest and leaning my back against the glass door, which had the curtains drawn so no one could see out, or more correctly, in.

They all groaned in annoyance.

'They're still out there?' Sirius asked, running a hand over his face and rubbing his eyes.

'Aye. It didn't twig until I was in here, t'be honest, I mean, we're in 5th year now, I thought they would've grown up by now.'

'Who's there?' Peter asked, looking past me and trying to look out the window, even though the curtains were drawn.

I was amazed that they were actually talking to me, honestly this was the longest conversation we had ever had, the only person out of the four of them I could talk to other than saying their name in the passing was Remus. He was the quietest out of them all. James - who had black hair, that spiked up at the back in all directions, not that he didn't try to stop it, as he had a habit of ruffling it whenever Lily was about. He had hazel eyes and wore glasses, and was considered gorgeous amongst many girls, though they didn't stand a chance, the man only had eyes for Lily - and Sirius - with long, curly black hair that usually fell into his grey eyes, and held a general air of elegance around him and usually had a haughty look about him - gained the most public attention, due to their pranks, their charm and their good-looks.

Yet, they were loud, always demanding attention when they were in a room; this caused strain between the teachers and them, but they made up with their talent; they were the cleverest of the whole year. Remus was smart as well, and just as nice looking, but he didn't want the attention that the other two wanted, he was perfectly happy to fall into the background, much like Mary and I when Lily, Marlene or Dorcas were around. The last of them was Peter, he was the odd one out of the four, he wasn't as talented, nor as nice looking. He was smaller than the rest of them, only coming up to the boys' shoulders, many people thought he just stayed with them so he could get noticed.

I grinned at them and turned around to face the door. I moved the curtain aside and peered out at the girls, trying not to get noticed by them.

'Uh, well, I'll start with people I _don't _know, two Gryffindors, one...two..._three _Hufflepuffs, two Ravenclaws and even two Slytherins, really are they delusional? A Slytherin and a Gryffindor? It's never been heard of. Right, from our year, there is Annie Turner, Pippa Greene, Isabella Reid and Catherine Thornton. There's also Danielle Freeman and Jenna Campbell from 6th year and Monica Reid from 7th year. Seriously guys, what do you _do_?'

I turned away from the window for a split second to look over my shoulder at them with raised eyebrows and they just grinned at me.

I turned back to the window. 'Right, there's also 4th years that I know, um, Hannah Grayson, Samantha York and my little sister-' I stopped in my tracks, my eyes focusing on my little sister, her blonde hair pulled over her shoulders, still wearing her Muggle clothes, the only difference being she had pulled her shirt down a bit, trying to show a little more cleavage.

My little sister.

My little sister in the Fan Club.

I dropped the curtain and turned back to the Gryffindor boys with a death glare.

'Have any of you said anything to my little sister?' I questioned slowly, emphasising every word, if they had done anything with her, I would kill them in the slowest and most painfullest way I could think of.

They shook their heads, rather shocked with my sudden change of mood, they hadn't spoken to me for long before, and they didn't know just how protective I could get over my sister. She was my best friend; her and Mary. I could tell them anything and they could tell me anything. They were the closest I had ever been to anyone.

'Have any of you _done _anything with my little sister?' I said, though instead of regarding them all, my eyes went straight to Sirius, after all, it was him the majority of the Fan Club cared about. And he didn't date much, and he liked messing around with girls. At least that's what the rumours said, I had never caught him doing anything other than with his girlfriends at the time, so I wasn't exactly going to accuse him on the basis of rumours, but still... this was my sister!

He noticed this and he straightened his back, sitting up straight in a defensive manner.

'Why are you only looking at me?' He asked, his hand hovering just above his wand. I did the same, not wanting to risk being defenceless if he decided to hex me.

'You're the only one who would. In case you hadn't noticed, Potter is in love wi' Lily and wouldn't randomly go with someone else. Remus is kind and a gentlemen and also wouldn't randomly go with someone. And well, Pettigrew isn't my sister's type... so, have you?'

He relaxed slightly when I explained this, it did make sense, he just got on the defence when I looked at him, despite himself, it was obviously the Black part of him coming out.

'No, I have not. I don't necessarily like going for the year below us.' He stated, slouching carelessly against the chair again.

I narrowed my eyes for a second at him and then nodded to myself, moving my hand away from my wand and relaxing.

'Good. Now, would you like me to get rid of them?' I suggested, my previous mood returning when I realised that none of them had touched my little sister.

'Yeah, thanks MacNeil.' James replied and I just nodded, turning around and opening the compartment door.

All the girls fell silent when the door opened again, but visibly acted disappointed when they realised it was just me.

'Right, my fellow Gryffindors behind me, have asked _me _to ask _you _to bugger off.' I informed them, keeping my voice light but pulling out my wand just in case it got a bit violent, they had been known to do that, especially the ringleaders, Annie and Pippa. They liked hexing any competition they felt they had and that was usually why Sirius' relationships didn't work out. They couldn't be bothered putting up with all the crap that the Fan Club gave them.

'So, why don't you just do that?' I added.

They stayed put, regarding me with scepticism.

'Fine. Give me a minute and I'll make you, but first of all. You-' I pointed at my sister, who had been trying to make her escape. 'You wait there and you can tell me what the hell you're doing in this stupid thing.'

I took a deep breath. 'What would it take for you to move?' I asked, deciding to start with what they wanted and work my way back to something that could _actually _happen.

They all answered at once.

'For Sirius to agree to go on a date with me!', 'For Sirius to kiss me!', 'For them to come out and talk to us!', 'Nothing would make me move!', 'A declaration of undying love!'

I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

'Seriously? I think I only heard one normal suggestion and that was "for them to come out and talk to us!", everything else was just stupid! You're throwing yourself at them, acting like obsessive brats, you know, you're one short step away from "no Mummy, I want _this _one!". Why don't you grow up and realise that if you stop throwing yourself at them you may get somewhere with them. I mean you may even - shock, horror - get to know who they are.'

'Like you do, you mean?' A voice called out and I grinned.

'No, _not like I do_, because I barely know them and to be honest, I don't exactly care about that fact.' I turned to them then. 'No offence.' I turned back to the crowd. 'But you lot do, so stop being people that they don't want to know and try being people they do.' I snapped, before raising my wand. 'Now, do you want to leave willingly, or will I hex you? And the people that are in my Defence class know exactly what I can do!'

Last year our Defence class was taken with Hufflepuffs, so I knew that Annie Turner, the leader of the group knew what I could do. So, with this in mind, she held her chin up high and marched off to find a compartment, her right-hand, Pippa Greene followed her, too. With their leaders away, everyone else began to thaw out and leave and I didn't really care whether they had listened to my advice or not, it was up to them, all I was concerned about was my little sister.

'I need t'talk to you!' I growled at her, before grabbing her wrist, ready to march away when two masculine voice stopped me.

'Thanks.'

I turned to see that the four boys were looking at me with slight smiles on their faces. I nodded once, a smile also on my face before I turned my back on them then and turned to my sister, completely furious with her. She was supposed to be a Ravenclaw! It didn't take a genius to figure out that being in a petty fan club was no way to gain their attention or their love.

'Right, you.' I hissed at my stupid - at the moment - sister, stopping her as we got a good few feet from the boys' compartment and turning to look her in the eye.

'Clair, why on _earth _are you in the Fan Club for those four? Who are you there for, eh? James or Sirius?'

She took a deep breath and looked down to the ground. 'Neither.' She whispered.

I furrowed my brows as I watched my little sister look embarrassed. I had never seen Clair act embarrassed, she was one of the bravest person I had ever known. She could deal with anything that was thrown at her.

Suddenly, realisation hit me. 'Remus?'

Clair looked up to meet my eyes and nodded once. 'He's different. A good different.' She started. 'He's quiet and smart, but he has a rebellious nature in him, I mean, he is best friends with Potter and Black...' She took a pause and I smiled slightly, knowing straight away how little she was interested in James and Sirius, she still called them by their last names. Even I didn't do that, when I talked to them face to face it was their surnames, but when I talked about them to my friends, I referred to them by first name. Except with Remus, he just got referred by first name all the time, it was just the kind of person he was.

'...so of course he has that side to him, I'm quite sure he takes part in some of the pranks, I dunno Kara, he's just what I'd want in a boyfriend.'

'Clair, why are you talking about boyfriends? You're in 4th year, you'll have ages for that.'

'Like you, you mean, little miss I've-never-had-a-boyfriend-in-my-life.'

I laughed, I knew that was supposed to be an insult, but I couldn't take it as one, it didn't bother me that I was 15 and had never been in a relationship. 'Aye, exactly like that.'

'No offence, but I don't want to be 15 and never've been kissed.' Clair responded, her moment of weakness gone, she was back to being the stubborn little git she always was.

'I don't care though, do I Clair? Remember, unlike you, I don't get my years' attention, that's Lily and Marlene and Dorcas, me and Mary blend into the background. But I don't give a toss, because I'd rather have someone who noticed me in the shadows than noticing me in the light.'

'Oh, how poetic,' Clair mocked, cupping her hands over her heart and pretending to swoon.

'Oh, shut it you tart.'

I untied her sister's purse that I had reattached to my belt when the commotion started. 'Here.'

I thrust the pouch into my sister's hand and then turned to walk away.

'Don't do anything I wouldn't do.' I called over my shoulder to her, before walking back to the compartment where Mary and the other girls were probably wondering if I had fell off the moving train.

I opened the door and sat down, smiling at the girls questioning expressions.

'What took you so long?' Mary asked, who had Alba in her lap, purring in content as she scratched behind his ear.

'I ran into the _Fan Club._'

They all groaned in understanding, but I just laughed and waved my hand for them to listen to me.

'That's not all.' I started, leaning back to rest my back on the chair and folded my arms over my chest. 'They wouldn't move, so I cast a spell to get their attention and t'be honest, I didn't realise it was the Fan Club until I had walked into their compartment to see who they were waiting on. I shut the door so they couldn't be nosey, then told them they were still outside - they seem to dislike them as much as we do - and they asked me who was there, so I looked out and told them the ones I knew and just said the Houses of the ones I didn't know. Then, d'you know who I saw?'

They all shook their heads, unable to come up with someone who they wouldn't expect to be in the Fan Club.

'My little sister, Clair.'

Their eyes widened in shock, and Mary's mouth also fell open, stopping stroking her cat, much to his displeasure.

'Clair?' Mary repeated.

'In the Fan Club?' Lily added.

'The Fan Club of James, Sirius and Remus?' Marlene expanded and I couldn't stop my grin when I realised she didn't even say Peter, she just disregarded him.

'Clair?' Dorcas finished.

I smirked slightly and nodded slowly. 'I couldn't believe it either. I asked them if any of them had said anything to her, and they said no. I then asked Sirius if he _touched _her-'

'Just Sirius?' Marlene asked, with a grin.

'Aye, I mean Remus is so nice, he wouldn't use someone like that. Peter isn't her - or anyone's for that matter - type, and well, James, he loves Lily-'

'Hey!' Lily exclaimed, she always got touchy when the subject of James came up, especially when we talked about his feelings for her.

'Well it's true!' Dorcas responded, pushing her hair behind her ear before turning to me again. 'What did Sirius say to that?'

'Well, I think he took offence.' I stated shortly, thinking about the way he looked when I insinuated he was the only one who would so something like that. 'I mean he went for his wand, he didn't take it out but his hand was hovering above it, but when I explained what I just said to you, he seemed to understand and relaxed. But he swore he hadn't done anything with her, so I relaxed and asked them if they wanted me to get rid of them and they said yes, so I did.'

'How?' Mary asked, astounded by the very idea that someone could move that gang of crazy people.

'By telling them that their obsessiveness wouldn't get them anywhere. Then threatening them with a hex, because Annie had been in our Defence class last year and she knew that I could do harm. So, she and Pippa left and with them gone, the rest of the club thinned out.'

Marlene laughed loudly. 'How did they react to that? The boys I mean.'

'They seemed quite happy that I managed to get rid of them, they thanked me so I guess I really spoke the truth, but I don't think the Fan Club paid any attention.

'Anyway, I just smiled, before dragging my sister with me and asking her why she was even with those people - her answer was sweet, but I can't tell you because I love her and I'm not giving away her secrets - and then I left and came back here. But I swear, if this is my year already, I can't wait to see what the rest of it is going to be like.' I finished, a wide smirk on my face at that thought, maybe I would actually get a boyfriend this year.

I shook my head at that thought, what was wrong with me today? I mean, if I followed in the path of my family's _supposed _ritual, I'd have to go go with someone who wasn't as popular as me, and no boy in the school was that unpopular. Except maybe Snape, Lily's friend, but I wouldn't dare go near him, he freaked me out, his constant talk of the Dark Arts and his general Slytherin-ness.

But that was what my brothers had done. Owen had started dating Veronica in fifth year and she wasn't popular, not even amongst her own House, Hufflepuff. Yet, despite this, Owen fell in love with her and after 7 years together, they were still going strong, and I knew that this year Owen was going to get engaged, I would like to say I could see it in his eyes and his actions, but truth was I found the ring in his briefcase when he came over for dinner one day.

Then there was Craig, who started dating Corinne in their seventh year, both of them were Ravenclaws and once again she wasn't the most popular Ravenclaw girl there, but Craig fell in love with and they were moved in together and settled down and had reached an agreement to not get married until after the war, as they didn't want to look like one of those couples who were rushing into it.

'So, how was your summer?' Lily asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

'Boring.' I stated shortly, moving my hands to sit on my knees. 'The only good thing was looking after a Dalmatian pup, but even that had its consequences.' I laughed as I pulled a white hair from my jeans, that had obviously embedded itself there.

'Mine was the same, except without the pup. It was just dull.' Mary declared, shrugging her shoulders. 'I guess I'm just glad t'be goin' back.'

'To Hogwarts or Scotland?' Marlene asked with a grin as she nudged Mary who sat next to her with her shoulder.

'Both.' Mary and I replied together, and we all burst out laughing loudly.

'Well,' Lily started as the laughter died down. 'I got a letter from Dumbledore, saying that-'

'You're a Prefect.' Marlene cut in, rolling her eyes. 'Big surprise.'

'Well, I thought it was!' Lily claimed, pouting slightly with mock-hurt.

'Don't listen to her.' Dorcas urged, casting a playful glare towards Marlene. 'Although we're not surprised Lily, congratulations anyway.'

'Aye, you deserved it.' I chipped in, smiling at Lily widely. 'Just promise me you won't take any points off of me when I _accidentally _jinx someone.'

Lily chuckled. 'Depends on the conditions, I may just miss it as I was looking the other way.' Lily winked at me and I winked back.

'That sounds fine with me.' I approved and Lily laughed, the other girls joining in again.

'Who d'you reckon the boy Prefect is?' Mary asked, pausing to think, there was only four Gryffindor boys in their year.

'Well it can't be James or Sirius, I mean, let's face it, Dumbledore would've had to go insane before he makes them two prefects. They'd take points from Slytherin for no reason, I can see it now,' Marlene quipped, she then held her hands in the air, pretending there was a sign there. '"50 points taken from Snivellus for being a slimy git", that'd be something they'd do.'

'It's _Severus_!' Lily snapped, she hated it when we referred to her friend by that nickname that James and Sirius had developed, but it suited him.

'Yeah, yeah whatever.' Marlene dismissed, waving her hand, ignoring the glare that Lily sent her.

'Right, let's focus on happier things.' Dorcas declared, she was always the calm and patient one, keeping the peace between her friends' arguments. 'We're going back to Hogwarts!'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

The train ride was over quicker than we expected, but we put it down to "time flies when you're having fun", which, after that train ride, seemed to be totally true.

We had changed into our school uniform when we were 15 minutes from Hogwarts. Though Lily had done so five minutes after pulling away from the station, she was a prefect, she had duties to do. However, for the rest of us it didn't take too long to put on the uniform. It consisted of a plain white, long-sleeved button down shirt, a tie with our house colours, a grey v-neck jumper, which also had our house colours on the neckline, a grey pleated skirt for females and grey trousers for males. Plain black shoes were worn and an open black tied robe with the houses emblem. We also wore grey knee-length socks, it was Scotland and it was always cold, we needed something to keep us warm, seeing because if we didn't have them, there would be too much skin exposed and we'd end up freezing in the stone castle that was our school.

'Right, how many Gryffindors d'you think we're gettin' this year?' Mary asked as we were sat at the Gryffindor table, watching the new first years being lead to the front of the Great Hall to be sorted into their Houses.

'Well, there were so many more first years than our time, I mean, we only gave Gryffindor what, nine?' I counted out, looking at the 4 other girls and the 4 boys that joined along with me.

'Yeah, didn't Slytherin get the biggest intake that year?' Marlene enquired, looking over to the Slytherin table with distaste.

'Well, I just hope we get more this year.' I admitted, looking with a hopeful smile to the little boys and girls that were standing nervously at the top of the Hall.

'Remember when we were that nervous?' Lily asked, pointing to one girl in particular, who looked like she was going to be sick.

'Yeah.' We all agreed, smirking slightly at that memory of our first day, our Sorting.

'Though, I have to admit, I was shocked I got placed in Gryffindor, my ma' and my big brothers were all Ravenclaws, I was certain I was going to be placed there.' I reminisced, I could remember that feeling of shock that came over me when the Sorting Hat shouted, "_Gryffindor_!" as if it was yesterday.

'Did you hear why he placed you there?' Mary asked, her voice dropping down to a whisper as the Sorting began.

'Something to do with standing up for what I believe in. Haven't a clue what he was talking about.' I responded, my sarcasm obvious in my voice. I was known to start arguments with anyone, even teachers, if they did or said something against my beliefs.

The other girls just snorted in amusement before turning back to the front.

'Marlene? Isn't that your little sister?' Dorcas asked, pointing to the blonde-haired girl who was sitting on the stool, looking nervously as McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

'Yeah, she better be in Gryffindor, otherwise I'm disowning her.'

Dorcas, Mary and I chuckled, whilst Lily just looked at her disapprovingly.

'Gryffindor!' The Hat exclaimed and the Gryffindor erupted in applause, Marlene standing up on the bench and whooping loudly.

Her sister just grinned as she made her way to a space in the Gryffindor table.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Soon enough the Sorting was over, as was the Welcoming Feast. So, completely full and having gained twenty-five new students, the Gryffindors made our way up to our Common Room.

'Much better intake than our year.' Mary announced as we made our way to Fat Lady.

'I'll agree with that.' I nodded in agreement, as I waited for the long line to diminish, the first years were in front, being showed around by the Head Boy and Head Girl, so we were stuck right at the back.

'Oi, MacNeil.' A voice called from behind us and we all turned to look at the source, despite the fact only one of us was addressed. Me.

'Aye?' I acknowledged, looking with raised eyebrows as James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew made their way towards me.

'Just wanted to say thanks again for that trick on the train.' James stated, ruffling his hair as he realised Lily was near him.

'Yeah, they didn't bother us again after it.' Sirius added, leaning casually against the banister of the stairs.

I was momentarily stunned by this, I realised the boys would _appreciate my _help in getting rid of the crazy Fan Club, but I didn't think they'd thank me in front of the Gryffindor population. We barely said a word to each other before now, only acknowledged that the other existed.

I cleared my throat. 'Uh, well, you're welcome. But Dad did always say help when you can, so...' I trailed off rather awkwardly and turned my back on them to hide the fact my eyes had widened to the size of a bugs' and I really didn't want them to know how shocked I was.

We finally made our way into the Common Room, and instead of sitting down in front of the fire, we decided to head to bed, knowing we'd have to be up early tomorrow for classes.

But my classes were the last thing on my mind, for I - nor the other girls - could figure out _why _they had called on me and thanked me for my favour to them on the train.

Especially when in the first four years at Hogwarts, we had said a maximum of six words to each other.

* * *

**_So, what do you think? This is my first long Harry Potter story, so I'm accepting critique, so long as it's helpful. _**

**_Please review and let me know what you think! :)_**

**_~Charlotte.x_**


	2. Chapter II

**_I'm glad people are reading and liking this! It makes my day!_**

**_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, and added to their alert/favourite!_**

**_Now, this is another long chapter, so I hope you stay with me. I promise, that after Chapter 4, they're down to a reasonable length._**

* * *

_~Pull yourself together,_  
_'Cause you know you should do better,  
That's because you're a free man.~_

_Queen - Spread Your Wings._

* * *

**Chapter II.**

I woke up the next day with a groan of annoyance.

'Why is it so early?' I mumbled into my pillow, as I tried to block out the sound of the alarm Lily had set.

'What time _is it_?' Marlene questioned, her voice just as tired and annoyed as mine was.

'6 o'clock.' Lily's chirpy voice called from the bathroom, apparently she'd dove out of bed as soon as the alarm clock went off.

'Buggerin' hell!' Mary exclaimed, taking her pillow and throwing it across to the clock that was still making a racket.

'That wasn't a good idea, Mary.' Marlene declared a second before the clock made a louder, more irritating beeping noise.

I sat upright in my bed at the change in pitch and loudness, my eyes narrowed in either tiredness or anger; even I didn't know which was the more predominant feeling. I glared at the spot I _thought _the clock was in, and then towards Lily, who was standing at the bathroom door, her face also screwed up in distaste at the loud noise.

'Fix it, Lily!' Dorcas demanded, also sitting upright, just like the rest of us were, and we watched as our friend dug out her wand and pointed it to the clock, saying a word or two that I couldn't hear due to the noise.

Soon enough though, the noise had stopped and with a sigh of relief I flopped back down onto my back, closing my eyes for a second before getting up to get ready.

'Who wants to go for the shower first?' I asked as I stretched, my arms extending right above my head and standing on my tip-toes, moaning lightly.

'Well, I'm not bothered, I mean, we've got an hour and a half before we have to be down at the Great Hall for breakfast, so...' Lily trailed off and looked around at the girls and I.

'Right, well, in that case, I'll go first.' Marlene declared, picking out a towel and moving towards the bathroom.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Once showered, I stood in front of the mirror, looking at my drenched hair that clung to my face and neck. I picked up my wand and cast a hot air charm, drying it. I then picked up a potion that I had received as a Christmas present last year, which would curl my hair into loose ringlets. A style that I often wore my hair as.

'Does this look all right?' I asked, stepping out from the bathroom, wearing only my blouse and skirt, pointing to my head with a finger.

'It looks fine.' Dorcas stated, smiling at me as she pulled her black hair into a ponytail.

'Aye, Dorcas is right, you look great.' Mary added and Lily and Marlene nodded in agreement, busy shoving on their clothes as well.

I nodded, still a bit unsure, but decided to leave it as it was and proceeded to put on my tie, jumper, robe, socks and shoes.

I then stuffed all my books into my bag, having absolutely no idea what I would have today, before slinging my bag around my shoulder and heading down to the Great Hall.

'Lily, if you set that _damn _clock again tomorrow, so help me Merlin, I'll kill you. I will kill you _dead.'_ Marlene threatened as we walked down from our dormitory and into the Common Room.

'Well if I'm honest, I didn't think Mary would throw her pillow at it.' Lily responded, holding back a smirk as she pretended to glare at Mary.

'Well, I didn't think I'd be woken up by a stupid alarm clock.' Mary responded as she rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up before she got down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

'Neither did I.' The rest of us replied, looking accusingly at Lily, who merely grinned and made her way out of the Portrait Hole.

'Why did you charm it to go louder when it'd been hit anyway, Lils?' I asked as we had finally reached the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

I inhaled deeply at the smell of toast, sausage, links, and bacon. I helped myself to a roll and started placing the bacon on it.

'Well like I said I didn't expect anyone to throw anything at it.' She responded, helping herself to a slice of toast and buttering it.

'Kara MacNeil.' A voice called from behind me and I put my roll down onto my plate, and turned to see Professor McGonagall waiting for me, a piece of parchment in her hand. She was wearing emerald green robes and had her brown hair pulled into a tight bun. Her black, pointed hat was sat on top of her head and she had the ghost of a smile as she looked down towards me.

'Professor.' I greeted, smiling widely at the woman. She was my favourite teacher, she may be strict, but she always had the right attitude and words that made me get the job done. Transfiguration was my third best subject, (Care of Magical Creatures was my first, and Defence was my second) and it was all because of her. Though I was never as good as James and Sirius were.

Not to mention, she was Scottish. It was an automatic favourite when I discovered that my Head of House and Transfiguration teacher would be a Scot.

'Miss MacNeil, I assume you will be continuing with Care of Magical Creatures and the Study of Ancient Runes for your elective this year.'

I nodded once. 'Aye, professor.'

McGonagall nodded as well, and then tapped the blank piece of parchment with her wand and writing suddenly appeared. She handed it to me and then moved on down the line to the 7th year Alice, who was sitting beside her boyfriend, Frank Longbottom. Everyone knew that as soon as this year was finished and Alice and Frank had left, everyone would receive a wedding announcement from them.

'What've you got first?' Mary asked me, as she too examined her timetable with a grimace.

'I've got History of Magic for the first period and a half.' I responded with a groan, I _hated _History of Magic. Well, not so much the subject as I was keenly interested in History, but it was the professor.

Professor Binns.

He just droned _on and on _about the subject. He was a ghost, most probably from the 16th century going by his teaching technique. He would stand at the front, fix his eyes to the back of the class, and just start _talking. _He didn't care if people slept through his class or talked, so long as no one actually put their hand up and interrupted him. Rumour had it he hadn't even noticed he was dead, apparently he was sleeping in the staff room and just died, waking up as a ghost and just continued teaching.

'Imagine it.' Marlene started, her face full of distaste, all of our breakfasts lying in front of us forgotten for the moment. 'First day back, it's a Monday, it's morning and we have a period and a half listening to the most boring teacher that ever walked the earth droning on about one of the goblin's revolution.'

'How lovely.' I declared, immediately feeling disheartened with this revelation.

'Well, here is a pick me up,' Lily countered, her voice light. 'A period and a half of Potions.'

I groaned again. This day was getting better and better.

'Oh swell, Lily. I thought you were supposed to be doing a pick me up?'

'I thought you're supposed to be from a family of Ravenclaws?' Lily responded, a smirk on her lips as she watched the others flit over the rest of their timetables.

'I am. I like Potions, but once again, I don't think I can survive another year of Slughorn calling me everything but MacNeil!'

'Oh, yeah. How many names does he usually call you each period?'

'5 or 6, depends on how often he talks to me during the class.'

'So, 4th period, what've you got?' Dorcas asked, deciding to change the topic completely. She was always uncomfortable badmouthing teachers in the safety of our Dorm, never mind when they're in the same room as us.

'Study of Ancient Runes.' I replied and they all looked at me with slight pity. 'What?'

'We've all got Divination.' Dorcas answered and I pursed my lips together as I looked down each side of the table. There had to be someone else who took Ancient Runes.

Who was in my class last year?

'Remus!' I called, as I spotted the boy that was in my class last year. This then led to the other three 5th year Gryffindor boys to look up as well.

'Yes?' He replied, his face the way it always was, open and kind, despite the three scars that ran over the bridge of his nose.

'Are you taking Ancient Runes this year?' I enquired, hoping he had, so I had at least one person in the class I knew, and that I could sit beside.

'Yes, we've got it 4th period, haven't we?'

I nodded my head, pleased that he had decided to take it as well. 'Aye, walk with you there from lunch?'

He nodded his head with a smile, and I replied with the same wide smile. He was just one of those people, if he smiled at you, you had to smile back. I turned my head back to the girls and lifted my bacon roll, taking a bite out of it.

'Then double period of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Well, there is _my _pick me up.' I concluded with a grin as I swallowed my bite.

'Sounds fun.' Mary muttered, she never like Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Technically, it only started last year, due to the teacher that year, he never liked Mary, or me for that matter. We suspected he held prejudice towards us because we were Scottish, even though that does seem far-fetched.

Needless to say we were glad when the curse won out, and he ended up quitting for reasons that we didn't know - or cared - about.

Despite the fact that he also never paid any attention to me, I didn't care. Defence Against the Dark Arts was my second favourite subject, and no teacher was about to stop me from enjoying it.

'Right, well, we better get a move on.' Lily declared, always the one to organise the group.

We downed the remainder of our drinks, before hoisting our bags back over our shoulders, and heading off to History of Magic on the third floor.

We walked into the class, immediately feeling the depressing atmosphere which always adorned the classroom.

We walked straight to our seats, right at the back. There were six seats in each row and four rows, totalling 24 seats. Two rows were on each side of the classroom and the other two rows on the other side. We - the Gryffindors - shared this class with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, and there was no one in this classroom that actually payed attention.

Lily, Marlene and Dorcas, and Scarlet Johnston, Nancy Drew and Anne Halliday, all Hufflepuffs, shared the left row at the very back of the classroom.

The right row at the very back of the classroom was reserved for Mary, James, Peter, Sirius, Remus and I. Mary and I agreed to put up with them in order to be right at the back, and to be with our other friends.

Mary sat down, throwing her bag underneath the desk and I followed her actions. We didn't even bother to take out our book, _A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot. We had decided to read through it all anyway, realising that if we _wanted _to pass this class, we'd need to learn it on our own, as we wouldn't learn anything from Professor Binns.

The class had died down and Professor Binns had proceeded to start going on about the goblin revolutions, and I turned my head and realised that the four seats beside me were empty.

I had saw them in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. Mind you, I didn't see them leave when we did.

I was about to open my mouth and ask Mary where they had went, when the door opened and they strode in to the classroom.

Professor Binns didn't even notice, however, and they just walked up the back, into their seats, ignoring the looks of admiration that nearly every girl sent them. Nearly every girl, because me, Marlene, Dorcas, Mary and _especially _Lily, just didn't care that much about them to ogle them.

After five minutes, which actually felt more like five hours, I reached down and pulled out a piece of parchment, my quill and ink well, and started drawing absentmindedly over the parchment. I only stopped after I had successfully drawn a Hippogriff, and decided I had stayed quiet too long. I wanted to talk. I turned to Mary then, who had her head resting on her arms, her eyes closed.

'Mary!' I exclaimed, giving her a shake and she immediately awoken, seemingly embarrassed that she fell asleep.

'Were you talkin' t'me?' She asked and I just laughed, so that's why she looked embarrassed. She was worried she had fell asleep whilst I was talking to her.

'No. But I am now, so don't go back to sleep.'

'Really, what are you sayin'?'

'I'm actually wishing it was the summer holidays again.' I stated dramatically.

'I thought your only upside was a Dalmatian pup?' Mary replied, her eyes brows disappearing under her fringe.

'It was. I mean, I had to put up with Dad working near enough everyday. Mum was also busy with work, so that meant I was stuck in the house with Owen and Veronica being all lovey-dovey. Then Craig and Corinne being the same, but he took a moment away from his loved one to bother me with his over protectiveness. Then there was Clair, who was nagging about being in 4th year and having not been kissed.' I raved, then stopped just to catch a breath. 'But despite all of this, I would rather be there than be here listening to him drone on.'

Mary just giggled at that, knowing just how insane my family drove me. She wasn't the same, with being the only child and her father was no longer with them. So it was just her and her mum, and they didn't argue that much.

'Well, speakin' of Owen and Veronica bein' aw lovey-dovey, when they get married, can I go?' She enquired with a wide smile.

'Of course you can.' I responded with a smile just as wide. 'You can be my date.'

We giggled again and agreed to that, shaking each others hands in an accord.

'D'you think you'll be a bridesmaid?' She asked as we finally stopped laughing again, looking out the side of our eyes for any sign that Binns was annoyed with us.

He wasn't. He was still looking at the back, words just seemingly falling out of his mouth.

'I bloody better be.' I growled as I sat my quill down, turns out I had been twirling it in between my fingers whilst I had been ranting about my family.

'What? I thought you didn't like girly things?' Mary asked, completely taken aback by this deceleration I had made.

'Well, I don't,' I started, subconsciously playing with my skirt that was much shorter than I liked. Mainly because I liked wearing trousers more than anything. 'But, if I'm a bridesmaid, I get to walk down the aisle with one of Owen's friend...'

Giggles erupted from us again and the boys sitting beside us turned from their discussion to look at us for a second. I only noticed this from the side of my eyes though, and didn't really care, I just continued laughing with Mary.

When we eventually died down, Mary spoke again. 'Will Derek be there?'

Derek Gray, a handsome man with the gorgeous combination of blonde-hair-blue-eyes, was Mary's favourite. Having seen him for the first time two summers ago, she decided that she was going to marry him, despite being five years older than her.

'Aye, I suppose so, he is his best friend. But I don't care, s'long as Murray is there...' I paused for dramatic effect, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively. 'It's his hair that does it for me.'

We burst into giggles again, and Marlene, Lily and Dorcas stopped their conversation and turned to see what we were laughing about.

Marlene leaned out of her chair, across the aisle that the separate rows created and whispered at us. 'Kara! Mary!'

I leaned back on my seat, lifting the front legs of my chair off the ground in order to see her, after all I was the second seat away from her.

'Aye?'

'What are you two giggling about? We want to know!' She said and Lily and Dorcas nodded their heads behind her in approval at that statement.

'Murray Wilson.' I replied with a grin, and moans of approval came from all three of the other girls, before they too elapsed into giggles.

I sat the front legs of my chair back onto the ground with a thunk, and went to resume talking to Mary, when another voice stopped me.

'Who's "Murray Wilson"?' Sirius asked, apparently speaking for his other three friends, although James and Peter did look more like they were thinking and less like they actually cared about who Murray was.

'He's a Ravenclaw, was here when my brother was. Dark-brown hair, hazel eyes, he-'

James cut me off.

'"Murray Wilson", how does that name sound familiar?' He exclaimed, seemingly giving up trying to think who it was and just deciding to ask.

'We'll of course he sounds familiar,' Mary started, her eyebrows once again underneath her fringe. 'He plays for the Wales Quidditch team.'

'You know an actual Quidditch player?' He asked, apparently surprised at this declaration.

'Aye. My big brother's second closest friend. Mary, Marlene, Dorcas and Lily have met him as well.'

The sparkle in his eyes seemed to dampen at this and they flickered over to Lily, who at that moment had decided to swish her hair over her shoulder. She seemed to time these actions perfectly.

'What's he like?' He asked, quickly recovering from Lily's enticement.

'Hang on,' I stated shortly, leaning back in my chair again. 'Oi, Marlene!'

Marlene whipped her head around, her blonde hair that she decided to wear down today, flowing with the movement.

'How would you describe Murray?' I asked as Marlene raised her eyebrows questioningly.

'A God amongst men.' She answered immediately and I just grinned at that.

'Dorcas, same question.'

She sighed heavily, her eyes dreamy. 'Perfect.'

'And Lily?'

Lily looked up, looking between James and me, who ruffled his hair as soon as her green eyes fell on him.

'How would I describe Murray? A Quidditch player.' She started shortly and we all started laughing, well except the boys. Sirius placed a sympathetic hand on James' shoulder and Remus and Peter just looked at him sadly.

'Is that a good thing or a bad thing, Lils?' Marlene asked, giving her a nudge with her shoulder.

'He's a Quidditch player, of course that's a bad thing.'

Her eyes flickered over to James, who looked like he had just been whacked over the head with a broomstick.

I pulled a sympathetic look at his face, and came back down on to all four legs of my chair.

'He really is nice.' I stated, drawing his attention away from the red-head and back to me. 'He got us free tickets for their last game against Scotland. _That _caused some tension in our house.'

'Why?' Sirius asked, moving a strand of stray hair away from his eyes.

'Mum's Welsh and Dad's Scottish, and although Dad isn't magic, we were raised in Scotland until I turned ten, so we consider ourselves Scottish. So Mum was rooting for Wales and the rest of us were rooting for Scotland. It wasn't pretty.'

'So you support Scotland?' James asked, leaning forward to have eye-contact while we spoke.

'Course I do. That's like asking if you support England!'

'I suppose so,' He confessed. 'Who do you support in the League?'

'The Montrose Magpies, of course! Bred in Scotland and the most successful in the League history, why wouldn't I support them?' I smiled widely, I was glad to have finally found someone to share my enthusiasm about Quidditch with. Lily, Marlene and Dorcas just didn't care about it, and Mary tried but just didn't know enough about it for it to be a decent effort.

'Wasn't their Captain and Chaser, Fabius Watkins killed by those Muggle things, you know they're like broomsticks, but bigger and have things on the top that spin around?'

'A helicopter?' I answered for him, stifling my giggle at the fact he hadn't a clue about anything to do with Muggles, no matter how hard he tried. 'Do you listen during Muggle Studies? And aye, he was, such a shame. I cried for days when I heard.' I trailed off thinking about that, it'd be a day I'd never forget.

I was just waking up during the summer holidays and walking downstairs. Mum had the radio on to a wizard station, giving any information about Quidditch games that were coming on, or games that were on and what their scores were, when suddenly it blacked out for a second, saying there was an important announcement.

The man then continued to state that Fabius Watkins, legendary Captain and Chaser for the successful League team, the Montrose Magpies, was killed in a freak accident whilst training. He had flown into a Muggle helicopter and died instantly. I couldn't believe it, I was frozen in the spot for a few minutes, before I thawed out and broke down in tears. When my brothers and my sister came down, Mum told them the horrible news, and even they were saddened by his death. They weren't as upset as me though, as they didn't follow Quidditch as much as I did, but even they knew it was a sad day.

'But anyway,' I started, realising that I didn't want to darken the atmosphere any more than what Professor Binns had already done. 'Who do you support? Puddlemere United? Or Appleby Arrows? Or maybe even - though I doubt it entirely - the Chudley Cannons?'

The four boys laughed at that last suggestion. They were once a quite successful team, but those glory days were far over, and they now came in last in every League. They even changed their motto from "We shall conquer" to "Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best," just to show how even they knew that their best days were long gone.

'You were right the first time, I'm a fan of Puddlemere United, second most successful team in the League. My dad's always supported them, so I was brought up with them.'

'Really? I wasn't loyal when I was young, I'd support the team that was winning. So the one in the lead would get my cheers but if the other team scored a couple of goals and took the lead, I'd support them. Then when the Snitch was caught, I'd say I always knew they were going to win, and that they were my favourite.' I confessed, smirking slightly at all the stories Mum used to tell me, about when I would go to a Quidditch game. 'But I'm better now! I've supported the Montrose Magpies for 10 years now, and never looked back!'

History of Magic passed as slowly as it always did, despite the news that I had found someone to share my Quidditch obsession with, it didn't last that long. I had eventually stopped talking to them after the half period was by and turned back to Mary, who had fell back asleep in that time. I woke her up again, however, and we continued talking about other things instead of Quidditch, such as the first trip to Hogsmeade or the upcoming Hallowe'en Feast, or simply just the Christmas break.

Just back and we were planning our leave again, that's bad, isn't it?

It did finish eventually, and we made our way to the Dungeons for Potions, where Lily paired off with Snape, Dorcas and Marlene paired off together, as did Mary and I. Naturally, Sirius and James paired off, as did Remus and Peter. We shared this class with the Slytherins, which was never a pleasant thing.

I pulled out my cauldron and my book, listening to Slughorn tell us about the curriculum that was involved for the OWL in Potions. He then went on to tell us about the potion we would be brewing today, which was the Draught of Peace.

Mary and I agreed to help each other. It wasn't necessarily cheating, even Lily and Snape whispered out hints and instructions to each other. So we weren't the only people, and I was pretty sure that even James and Sirius helped each other.

I walked over to the cupboard and pulled out the ingredients, such as powdered moonstone, syrup of hellebore, powdered porcupine quills, Valerian root and powdered unicorn hair. Then I returned to my table, where Mary had opened both our books to the page.

'Right, I hate t'tell you this, but I haven't a clue on how t'do this.' Mary announced as soon as I was back at the table.

I groaned. 'Brilliant.'

I moved my book so we could both read it, and skimmed my eyes over the page, reading the instructions aloud.

'Add _two_ measures of the powdered porcupine quills and _one_ measure of the unicorn horn, then stir twice clockwise, then allow to heat for exactly a minute, before adding _two_ sprigs of Valerian root and _three_ measures of powdered moonstone. Then stir it seven times clockwise, then seven times counter-clockwise. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for seven minutes, then wave wand over the top to finish the potion.' I stopped once I had reached the bottom. My confusion probably was written clearly over my face. 'Oh, _that make sense_.'

I looked around myself and decided to take the easy way out of this. 'Be right back.'

I looked at Slughorn who was busy looking into Marlene's potion and chatting away with her. Then, discreetly, I made my way over to Lily and Snape, purposely ignoring the glare that Snape sent towards me because I was approaching Lily.

'Oi, Lils!' I whispered as I ducked down beside her table, so as to not be noticed by Slughorn. It would've been me that would've got into trouble, not his favourites Lily and Snive - oh, no sorry - _Severus_.

'Yes?'

'Any tips on how to brew this potion?' I asked, grinning at her. Supposed Ravenclaw or not, I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to get tips from the best in the year at Potions.

'Make sure everything is exact. Follow them exactly as it says, no less and no more. The wand movement at the end is a swish and flick. Make sure the timing is dead on. Do all of that, then you should be fine.' She whispered back, constantly looking out the side of her eyes to see for any signs that Slughorn would be coming back.

'Thanks, Lily.' I said, entirely grateful that I had someone as good at Potions as Lily was. 'If you ever need any help in Care of Magical Creatures or Herbology, or even Defence, 'member to ask me.'

I quickly made my way back over to the table, grinning widely at Mary who was still reading the instructions aloud, trying to make sense with them.

'How'd it go?'

'She gave me some tips, so just follow my lead.'

I followed the instructions as closely as I could, and with Lily's pointers my potion started looking more like the described appearance; turquoise blue with a light silver vapour.

By the end of the lesson, Mary and I's potion wasn't _exactly _like it should've been, only Lily and Snape managed to brew a potion that could actually suffice being called Draught of Peace. I did, however, manage to make a potion that was more royal blue and emitted gold vapour rather than silver, which was quite close according to Slughorn, my only problem was my last simmer wasn't precisely 7 minutes. Slughorn expected I took it off too early, but if I had fixed that it would've passed as being Draught of Peace, which I was quite proud of.

A part of me believed it was the tips that Lily gave me more than anything, but I wasn't going to tell Slughorn that. I'd thank Lily when we got back to the Common Room. Mary, who's like me, strongest subject wasn't Potions, also managed to brew a potion similar to mine, so when we left the Dungeons to go for our break, we were quite pleased with the outcome.

Well, I was anyway.

'I can't believe that, first day back, and I already want to drop Potions. Was it just me, or did everybody else find that hard? And you're not allowed t'answer, Lily!' Mary asked, then snapped as Lily opened her mouth ready to reply.

The look on Lily's face was classic, that I couldn't stop myself from laughing. However, I ended up thanking the fact I grew up with two brothers, as she swiped her hand trying to catch the back of my head, and I had to duck quickly, which I had learned to do from dodging my brothers when we started to "play fight".

We headed straight for the Hall, which hadn't been set for Lunch just yet.

'Well, you know I did find it a _bit _hard.' I smiled at Mary as we sat down at the Gryffindor table, moving our stuff as the plates began to appear from thin air.

'I did as well.' Marlene admitted with a smile as well, and Dorcas nodded in agreement.

Soon enough the other Houses came into the Great Hall and food covered the tables, suddenly cutting off every conversation, as the delicious smell of chicken, steak and all other enticing food filled the room. My stomach growled, and I scooped food onto my plate and started eating. I realised that I hadn't even finished my breakfast but I had left anyway, and didn't take anything with me. So, needless to say, I was starving. So I wasn't long in wolfing down my food.

When I had finished, I pushed my plate away from me, and it vanished down to the kitchens for the elf's to clean.

I only had Study of Ancient Runes and Defence Against the Dark Arts left, then I could relax, well, not necessarily relax, as our Potion class had already been given an essay for homework, and I had a feeling Defence would be the same.

The new Professor was a man, he was pale and his skin seemed to have a blue undertone to it. He was balding and any hair he did have was straw-like. I didn't know what it was about him, but he just seemed like someone who would dish out the homework.

'Ready to go, Remus?' I asked, I had been looking over at him every so often, just making sure I caught him when he wasn't talking with his friends. I didn't want to interrupt them.

The chime hadn't sounded for the end of the break that came after lunch, but I didn't want to be late for Runes, seeing as Professor Babbling really didn't like people being late.

'Yes,' he answered, picking up his bag and putting it over his shoulder and I followed his example, with the only difference being I smoothed down my skirt as I stood up, making sure I was still decently covered.

I said goodbye to Mary and the others, and he did the same with his friends, before we headed to the 6th floor for our Ancient Runes class.

By the time we got to the classroom, the bell still hadn't sounded for the end of the break, so Remus and I were left standing outside with the other students, waiting patiently for the Professor to open the door and let us in.

'So, the other three didn't take Ancient Runes?' I asked, starting to make conversation, rather than just sit in silence.

We normally talked every now and then during class, but the Professor usually gave us a lot of work, so the only kind of conversation we had was; "This Rune means peace, doesn't it?" or "The essay is due this Tuesday, isn't it?"

Sure, we were on first name basis, but truthfully, I think the only reason we were because he was just the kind of person that to call him only by his surname wasn't right. I don't think anyone called him Lupin, except the Slytherins, but that was the same with everyone in that House, they felt as if they were above getting on first name basis with other people.

And also Peeves, he liked to call him "Loony Lupin".

However, beside the small talk we had in class, we never really talked outside of it, just like the rest of his friends. But, what with the conversation I had with them just today in History of Magic, and the incident on the train yesterday, I felt like I wanted to have a conversation with him, just to stop the silence, which was never awkward, it was just, I didn't like silence that much.

'No,' he laughed. 'I tried to talk them into it, saying it was better than Divination, but they didn't believe me.'

'Do you think they just wanted a easy subject? I mean, you can pretty make anything up and just back it up with "the fates told me".' I grinned, I had only took it in 3rd year, just to see what it was like. After my first lesson I hated it and immediately went to McGonagall to change it. Thankfully, because it was the first day it was surprisingly easy, which I was happy about.

'You know, you may be on to something there.' He laughed again and I joined in. 'But they actually took Muggle Studies.' He informed me and I was shocked by that, I was in the process of replying but I was cut off by a short cough behind me.

I turned and came face to face with Annie Turner and I smiled at her, though it was forced. I couldn't stand the girl, she had the emotional range of a teaspoon and outside the classroom, only had her mind set on one thing. Sirius.

'Annie.' I stated shortly, before turning back to Remus with a roll of my eyes.

'I saw you talking to Sirius in History of Magic first period.' She informed me and I turned back to her with raised eyebrows.

'Yes. I was also talking to James, Peter and Remus, here. Is that illegal?'

Her eyes narrowed and her hand hovered defensively over her wand.

_Oh great! _I thought. Don't tell me I have just made enemies with the ringleader of the Fan Club, this was the last thing I needed. Them hassling me for whatever reason, for information on them, or maybe they think that I wanted to join their stupid obsession.

'What were you talking about?' She hissed and once again, I rolled my eyes, unable to stop myself.

'We were talking about how we want to get married and have hundreds of babies.' I replied, and beside me I heard Remus choke as he tried his hardest not to laugh.

Her eyes flashed and her wand was out. Not one to be defenceless, I too whipped out my wand. If it came to a hexing match, she wasn't about to win.

'I don't like being made a fool of, nor do I like being lied to.'

I chuckled softly at that, was that supposed to be intimidating?

'Really?' I sighed, lowering my wand ever so slightly. 'Look, Annie, what the hell do you except? We were talking about Quidditch, if you must know, and incase you hadn't noticed, I was mainly talking to James. The conversation lasted for what? 30 minutes out of the hour and a half of History of Magic that we had, before I turned back to Mary. Stop being so God damn paranoid.'

Apparently this wasn't the right thing to say, for she cast a spell at me, thankfully I managed to step aside and dodge the flash of light that came from her wand.

'I don't even know why I was worried. The little nobody who is always in the shadow and will probably end up alone.' She spat before she walked by me, bashing into my shoulder and knocking me over. I was glad Remus was there, for her grabbed my arm and steadied me.

Well, that cut me deep.

I normally didn't let things like that stop me from being happy. I never let the fact that I had never had a boyfriend, or that I had never been kissed stop me from thinking that I would meet someone who would love me. I even joked about these things with Clair and my brothers, and it never bothered me. So, why, when someone like Annie Turner said it to me, I felt like someone had stuck a knife deep into my heart and twisted it about? Why did it feel like she was speaking the truth? That I would never find someone? That I would end up alone?

'Come in.' Professor Babbling called and I made my way to my seat, vaguely aware of the fact that Remus was still beside me, looking at me with concern etched on his kind face.

'She's wrong, you know.' He stated as the Professor started briefing the class on what we would be doing today.

'What?' I asked, turning to him after I had opened my book to the correct page.

'What Annie Turner said, about you being a nobody and will end up alone, she's wrong.'

I smiled softly at him, the way he spoke, he made it sound as if it was true. That I _was _somebody like Lily or Marlene or Dorcas. A part of me wanted to believe him, but I couldn't, mainly because I knew he was humouring me, trying to make me feel better.

Yet, despite the fact that I knew he most likely _was _humouring me, it did make me feel better.

My smile widened. 'Thanks for believing that. Though, you're probably the only one.'

'No, I don't think I am.' He said, a note of sincerity in his voice and I tried to think who else would believe such a thing.

I didn't ask him though, deciding to let that one slide and I just turned back to the front, deciding to focus on translating the passage that Professor Babbling had handed out.

I was right in my speculation that the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor would be the kind who liked dishing out the homework. Yet, one thing that I didn't see coming was just how talented he was. Every year our professor for DADA was different, due to the apparent curse that was on the post. No one knew where it came from, or when it started, but needless to say, at the end of every year, something would happen to the teacher and a new one would take their place the next year. So of course, every year we would go on a completely different pattern than the year before, which usually made it hard to keep track of what you had learned and what you still needed to learn.

But Professor O'Connor was extremely knowledgeable in Defence, and although the first part of the double period was a lecture on Werewolves, something we did during our third year. When we told him this, he insisted on taking the first period just to go over them again and to make one thing absolutely known. They were people. Only one day a month were they a dangerous creature, but for the rest of that month they were people and most of them were kind. He made it known that we shouldn't discriminate against them, that they didn't deserve it, something I had long believed in anyway.

The second period, however, was a practical lesson. He told us that we would be starting small, just to see what we were capable of and requested we split into couples, and practised the Disarming Spell.

Naturally, I paired off with Mary, and we picked a spot at that back of the classroom.

_'Expelliarmus!'_ Mary exclaimed, pointing her wand at me and although my wand tugged slightly, it didn't come flying out of my hand and over to her.

'You're not swishing it enough, Mary.' I called back to her, noting how before she had just pointed it at me. The wand movement needed some wrist action. 'Watch. _Expelliarmus_.'

Her wand flew out of her hand and up into the air, it flew through the air and when it was in my reach I caught it. I twirled it and smirked at the look on her face. 'See.'

'Ha, ha, ha. You're really funny. Completely brilliant, _your majesty_.' She retorted as she walked over to me to get her wand back. 'Now, can I have my wand back?'

I handed it back to her, and she walked back over to her space, and was about to cast the spell again when another voice stopped her.

'Sorry, what is your name?' The voice of Professor O'Connor sounded from behind me, and I turned, pointing to my chest. Was he talking to me?

He nodded his head, obviously realising that was the question the pointing meant, and I smiled.

'Kara MacNeil, sir.'

'Ah, yes, Miss MacNeil, it'll take me a day or two to get used to everyone's name.' He muttered, most likely to himself.

I smirked at that, a day or two? Slughorn had taught me for 4 years and had taught my brothers as well, and _still _couldn't get my name right.

'Anyway, I just wanted to congratulate you on your Disarming Spell, from what I saw, it was on your first attempt, correct?'

'Aye, sir.' I replied, in a state of shock that he was congratulating me. In the past four years, the teacher just gave me a well done while they were walking by me. It was usually James and Sirius who got singled out for the congratulations, seeing as they were the best in the class, which we shared with the Slytherins, once again.

He smiled softly at me before turning to Mary. 'Miss MacNeil is right, there is a slight flick of the wrist, do that and you'll be Disarming perfectly.'

He turned then and walked away, leaving me smiling with pride at Mary, who simply rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath.

'Aye, that's the last thing we need, you getting a big ego.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Charms class the next day, which we had with the Ravenclaws, involved practising our Silencing Charm. We had to pair off and practice it on each other. The professor, Flitwick, was a small man, completely friendly and Head of the Ravenclaw House, though he didn't show favouritism in the classroom. If you got it right, he applauded you, if you got it wrong, he gave you help on how to get it right. It was easier than Transfiguration, which needed to be much more exact and precise.

Transfiguration, as I mentioned before was one of the harder subjects. We spent the period trying - though not necessarily succeeding - to change an owl into opera glasses. I think the thing I was most nervous about was the fact if I didn't get it right, something could happen to the owl, which was bad enough, growing up around animals and wanting no harm to come to them. The thing that made it worse was I was using Clair's owl, Scotia. I didn't talk once during that lesson, except to say the spell, I didn't want to change her into opera glasses, then be unable to change her back into the beautiful barn owl that she was.

Care of Magical creatures, taught by Professor Kettleburn, a man famous for being completely reckless and hotheaded, and only had one and a half limbs left. However, the man had apparently calmed down since Professor Dumbledore became Headmaster, well according to Mum anyway, she had him whilst the Headmaster was still Professor Dippet. We went into the Forbidden Forest, into a clearing where we met the Hippogriff herd again, just going over our memory of the creature. He asked for a volunteer to come and greet one, and needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity.

Herbology, taught by the Head of Hufflepuff House, Professor Sprout was spent dealing with Fanged Geranium, a magical flower with sharp teeth. No one was seriously injured, though a couple of us, including me, got a small bite that was closer to a scratch from a cat.

Astronomy at midnight on Wednesday was tiring. Not that I didn't enjoy it, I did, but I didn't get the best sleep the night before, only falling asleep at two o'clock in the morning, then getting up at 6 o'clock. So of course, having to stay up until midnight wasn't the best thing in the world, but it was fun. We were looking at several stars and filling in star charts. Mary and I had a nice little chat when we wrote on our chart. But needless to say, when we were finished with Astronomy, I went straight to my bed and collapsed onto it. Not even bothering to change out of my uniform.

I was glad when the first weekend rolled around, which meant I didn't have any classes, just time to do my homework.

We were sat in good seats in the Common Room, dressed in Muggle clothes and sitting in front of the fire, not doing what I wanted to do, which was obviously relaxing.

Lily was focusing on her Potions essay, Dorcas and Marlene on their Divination homework, Mary concentrating on the Transfiguration essay, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth like she always did when she was working hard and concentrating. Me, I was putting the finishing touches on my Care of Magical Creatures essay, a roll of parchment on the Hippogriff, its feeding habits (insects, birds and small mammals such as ferrets or rats), breeding information (they build nests on the ground and lay only a single, fragile egg, usually in summer as they hatch within 24 hours), behaviour (intensely proud creatures, fiercely loyal and protective of those who have earned their trust), and of course, how to approach one (bow low whilst maintaining eye contact without blinking, wait for Hippogriff to bow back, then allow Hippogriff to make the first move).

I sat down my quill, twisting my wrist to stretch it out and loosen it out.

'Oh, Merlin!' I gasped, exasperated with the amount of homework we had got in the first week. Though, true to the Ravenclaw side of me, I had already finished most of them. I only had my Ancient Runes one to do, but I had finished my Potions, Defence and Transfiguration one.

'What?' Mary asked as she and the rest of the girls also sat their quills down, obviously deciding they deserved a break.

'I mean, this is the first week back, and I've already been given five essays. Sure, I've already done four of them but still ... I just know that this year, is going to be a _LONG _year!'

* * *

**_Okay, so another chapter finished. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know in a review! And if you could let me know what you think of the summary, or if I should change it, that'd be good too._**

**_Also, I have a Facebook page where I post sneak peeks for future chapters/stories, as well as face characters for my OCs. So, if you could like that... the link is on my profile. :)_**

**_~Charlotte.x_**


	3. Chapter III

**_Sorry for the day late update! I didn't mean it! I was just so distracted yesterday. Okay, so this is Chapter 3, and only one more chapter after this, then the chapters are down to a decent word count, and I don't ramble on as much. :) _**

**_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/added to their favourite list/story alert. You all make my day! :D And a thank you to Guest 1, Guest 2, and Julie, who reviewed! I just want to let you know that I read and loved your reviews, even though I can't reply._**

* * *

_~You're on the road,_  
_But you've got no destination,  
You're in the mud,  
In the maze of her imagination.~_

_U2 - Beautiful Day._

* * *

**Chapter III.**

We had been back at Hogwarts for a good few weeks. We had gotten back into the swing of things within the first day. Hogwarts was pretty much everyone's home from home. I had yet to meet someone who didn't like their time in the castle. Sure, it was freezing. We were in Scotland after all, and the fact it was a large, stone castle didn't help to keep any heat in, but other than that it was a great place to be.

Truthfully, whilst there, you could almost forget all about the War that was raging on outside. You could almost forget about Lord Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, killing Muggles (like Dad), Muggle-Borns (like Lily), Half-Bloods (like me) and sometimes, even Pure Bloods, though these were mainly Blood Traitors (like Mum - we had a great chance, didn't we?).

But like I said. You could _almost_.

I was sadly reminded of this every morning, when my issue of the Daily Prophet came through by owl post. The Good News section was always getting smaller, whilst the Bad News section got bigger and bigger by its list of murders, disappearances, and tortures.

'What's the damage, the day?' Mary asked, sitting next to me, munching away on a piece of toast.

'Uh, four murders, six tortures, and three disappearances.' I replied, before taking a sip from my tea. We had finished with lessons for the day and were currently in the Great Hall for supper. 'Most of the names sound like people I know. The murders are a H. Simmons. Do you think that is any relation to Gerry Simmons?'

I looked over to the Hufflepuff, scanning it for any sign of the fourth year, but I couldn't see him.

'Looks that way.' Marlene agreed, she too had been looking over. 'Who else?'

'An A. Price, probably a relation to Kristen,' who was in Gryffindor, the year above us. 'An R. Jones.'

'That'll be a relation to Greg in 7th year, y'know the Ravenclaw?'

'Aye, most likely, then there is a J. Greenwood. Oh my, that'll be that poor little first year that's in Gryffindor. What a shame.'

After the Sorting, although the girls and I turned in as soon as we got back to the Common Room, the next day at breakfast we got to know our new House members, and one of them was Joanne Greenwood, a sweet brown haired, blue eyed girl, who we discovered was a Half-Blood, her father having married a Muggle. She was nervous coming to Hogwarts with this sort of blood, but I quickly informed her that she would be fine. I had the same type of blood, only it was my Mum that was the Witch and my Dad who was the Muggle and nothing had happened to me.

The only problem with that was as soon as the words had left my mouth, a voice at the back of my head just had to add _"yet."_

'Sadly yes.' Lily informed us. 'McGonagall called Remus and me to her office to tell us, we're just back from comforting her.'

I pushed away my cup of tea and picked up my school bag, slinging it over my shoulder and standing up.

'I'm going to the Library.' I informed them softly. They didn't say anything; they knew that when I went to the library, it was to think, to get a clear head and not be bothered by anyone.

I picked up my Daily Prophet and stuffed it into my bag before going to walk out the Great Hall.

However, when I saw Remus with his friends, I stopped.

'Remus? The Runes homework is for tomorrow, isn't it?'

He looked up, a bit surprised, but when he saw it was me he smiled. 'Yes, translate the passage, have you done it yet?'

I shook my head. 'No, I'm actually just going to the Library to do it. My family would be shocked if they found out though.' I added with a grin. I usually was one to get all my homework done when it was issued. I normally didn't leave it till the day before it was due, I had a good amount of Ravenclaw-ness in me, but in my mind History of Magic and Runes were my least concern. All my other subjects I hoped to continue to NEWT level, except those two. So they sort of took the back burner.

'Why?' A voice said, pulling me from my thoughts, and I turned to see Sirius Black looking up at me, a questioning expression on his face.

'My whole family was in Ravenclaw, you know where the traits are intelligence, wit, wisdom, creativity and individuality.'

'I'd say you have all of that, so how did you manage to get placed in Gryffindor?' James asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

I laughed. 'The Sorting Hat said I had the Ravenclaw qualities, but my Gryffindor ones - y'know, bravery, chivalry, courage, daring and nobleness - won out. What can I say? You never argue with that Hat.' I stated with a smile, before turning on my heel and going to the Library, ready to catch up on my homework.

When I got there, I found a nice secluded table and pulled out my Ancient Runes book, my passage and a piece of parchment, as well as my quill and ink.

I was all settled, ready to start when I heard the chair next to me move back, someone sitting down on it, and then tucking back in underneath the table.

I looked up, admittedly a little hesitant, only to come face to face with my sister.

'Oh, it's you.' I stated shortly, before looking back down to my passage.

'What kind of way is that to greet your sister?' She asked and I could tell she was smiling. I sighed, trying to make it look like I was incredibly annoyed with her. Which, in a way, I kind of was, I needed to get this homework done.

'The perfect way when you're trying to do homework, you plonker.' I replied, setting down my eagle feather quill. 'What d'you want, Clair?'

'Well, you know Remus. I've seen you talking to him, and the rest of them every now and then. You're doing it more than you used to, so I was just wondering if you could introduce me. I know that he knows me, but I don't know, Kara, I just want to know him better.' Her voice had dropped down to a whisper, like it always did when she started talking about Remus, the last thing she wanted was for anyone to know. It was rather sweet actually.

'Well, he's in my Ancient Runes class, I could run into you to or from that class. But, we do walk to Muggle Studies where he branches off with Sirius, James, and Peter, and I go with Mary to the Hall, so he may just speed up and walk away.'

'Oh, you have great faith, don't you?' She retorted with a roll of her eyes and I just grinned.

'Just preparing you for every situation.' I protested, picking my quill back up again and dipping it in my ink well. 'Now, bugger off till I get this done.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

As it turned out, the one thing I didn't think about was Clair turning up and saying absolutely nothing. Remus and I left the first period of our double period to go the Hall for lunch and we "surprisingly" ran into Clair, only for her to freeze up and walk silently beside us. Leading to only Remus and I having a conversation, which was extremely awkward because of my love-struck sister quietly fretting beside us.

'There's the guys there, I'll see you next period. Bye Kara. Clair.' Remus excused himself from us and walked to his friends, who greeted him with wides smiles and enthusiasm.

'Mary, save me a seat at the table, I've got t'have a talk with my sister.' I said, grabbing Clair's arm and rounding her into the nearest toilets.

I checked every stall to make sure we were alone before I started talking.

'What was that, Clair?' I hedged.

What was it with girls getting extremely nervous around the boys they liked?

'I don't know, I froze up! I couldn't help it! He was just walking there, looking y'know, and I couldn't do it!'

'Well, this is why you aren't a Gryffindor!' I suggested, throwing my hands up in exasperation, why did she want my help when she couldn't do anything?

'Oh, listen to Little Miss Lion! I'm an Eagle! Y'know, blue and bronze, not crimson and gold!' She proved, as she turned and started to pace wildly. '"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure" is my motto, not "we're bloody brilliant, we'll take care of everything"!'

I laughed. '_That _is not our motto!' I reprimanded, though most of the time it was true. Gryffindor's were famous for being the leader of the situation. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Gryffindor himself, even James and Sirius liked to lead a group. 'I believe we don't have one, but if we did, it would be "where the brave dwell."'

'Mine is more fitting!' She protested. Stopping her pacing and crossing her arms over her chest, she turned back to face me. 'What am I going to do?'

'Truthfully? I haven't a clue! Like you've reminded me a _million_ times, I have never done this before, but I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to go get food, find Remus and apologise for my sister's weird behaviour.' I informed her, turning my back on her and walking to the Great Hall.

Sure, it may have been bad doing that to her, seeing as she was obviously nervous and embarrassed and whatever else she was feeling, but still. I knew what it was like to have an over-protective older sibling. Craig never fussed over her, not as much as he did with me anyway, so I didn't want to become that person. Besides, I was hardly in any state to be playing Cupid! I'd have to sort out my own love life before I started even considering helping someone else's!

Mind you, sorting out my love life entailed me getting one, so it was quite obvious that if I stuck to that rule of never helping anyone else until I had mine in track, then I wasn't helping anyone any time soon.

By the time I got to the Hall for lunch, it was packed full and loud with nearly everyone talking in between mouthfuls of food. I scanned the Gryffindor table and found Mary with Lily, Dorcas and Marlene, and I made my way over to them.

'What took you so long?' Marlene asked as soon as I had sat down in my usual spot next to Mary.

I picked up a chicken leg, setting it on my plate, then helped myself to a couple of other things; chips, vegetables, the usual.

'Needed to have a sisterly talk with Clair.' I responded as I poured myself a cup of pumpkin juice.

'Should we even bother asking what it was about?' Marlene asked, a smirk on her face, she knew well that anything I said to my sister usually didn't get relayed back to her, or anyone else for that matter, not even Mary.

'Nope.' I replied shortly as I took a long sip from my recently poured juice, and tucked into my meal.

'When is the first Hogsmeade trip?' Dorcas asked after a while, and we all turned to Lily. Prefects were usually privy to that sort of stuff.

'A week today actually.' She answered, flicking her long auburn hair over her shoulder. 'The announcement was going to be made tonight.'

'So, one week and then we can go into Hogsmeade? That's great! I need a new eagle quill, and I want to check out the new books in Tomes and Scrolls.' I informed them, it was great to be getting out of the castle and going to Hogsmeade.

As much as I loved this castle, as much as it was home, it was nice to get out every once and a while and stroll down Hogsmeade, checking out the shops.

'Yeah, yeah, you'll get to your book shop, just after we've been to Gladrags!' Marlene chirped, she loved that shop more than anything. Despite the fact it sold some crazy items of clothing, they also sold the most beautiful things as well.

'As long as I get there in the end, Marly, you know that.' I replied, pushing away my plate, finally finished with my food.

I then started raking through my bag for my worn down quill that I hadn't thought to replace when Mum, Clair, and I went school supply shopping during the summer.

I decided the safest option to make sure I got everything I needed when I went to Hogsmeade, was to write a list. There was a couple of things I needed that couldn't wait.

I also dug out a piece of parchment.

_Note to self, you need more parchment._

'Right, don't mind me, I'm just-' I started, only to be cut off by Marlene.

'Going off into Kara-world, yes, we know from that look on your face.' She interrupted.

'Y'know, as much as I love you, Marly, you can be a right cow sometimes.' I grinned and her answer was to simply grin back.

I looked back down to the parchment, dipped my quill in to my colour-changing ink that I always used when making notes for myself, it made it just that tiny bit more exciting.

_1. New eagle feather quill._

_2. A couple of new reading books, my stack of Muggle books from Dad are running low, might send Scotia to him asking for more as well._

_3. Take radio to Dervish & Banges, it needs repaired._

_4. Go to Spintwitches for another Montrose Magpies banner, as per the usual. _(It quickly turned into a tradition with me that the first trip to Hogsmeade I would buy a new banner. I don't know why to be honest, it just sort of happened every year, so rather than stop it, I embraced it.)

_5. Go to Honeydukes and get the sweets that both Mum and Dad like, then send them to them when asking for more books from Dad._

_6. More parchment._

_...I think that's it._

I nodded, setting down my quill and putting the stopper back into my ink, watching in amusement as the ink slowly faded into different colours, going from pink to blue to red to green from the top left hand side of the parchment, to the bottom right hand side of it, creating a wave of colour.

'Oh, she's back!' Marlene exclaimed as I folded up my parchment, after having cast a drying charm on the ink.

'Ha, ha, ha.' I muttered, as I placed everything back into my bag. 'Cow.'

'I heard that.'

'I'm glad, I meant you to.'

'Right, calm down you two.' Dorcas intervened, she was never one to allow arguments or fighting, even if it was just fun banter amongst friends.

Marly and I looked at each other, before rolling our eyes.

'I saw that.' Dorcas commented and the three of us soon fell into giggles, with Lily and Mary soon joining in, it was hard not to; laughter was infectious after all.

'Right, I think we should move to go to our class, eh?' Lily asked, standing up and smoothing down her skirt and robes.

'Sure.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

That next week, we were allowed into Hogsmeade. The first trip into Hogsmeade were always spent together. A girls day out. After that, if we were asked to go with someone, we could, but the first day was always an "us" day. As per the usual, Lily and Marlene had been declining offers left, right and centre. Even Dorcas had to say no to a couple of boys who had asked her. Which just left Mary and I as the ones who had never been asked.

Not that we bothered, Mary and I didn't care, especially when we looked towards the newly formed couples head towards Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. I had never been in there, but just _looking _at it made me want to gag. It was pink and lacy and girly. It was horrible. There was no other word for it. I was quite sure my hell would be Madam Puddifoot's.

'It's bloody horrible lookin'.' Mary stated, as we walked a step behind the other three girls. We had started walking in a row, but they weren't used to the cold and snow and decided to speed up in order to get to Gladrags quicker. However, Mary and I were used to the cold by now and just fell behind them, not being bothered enough to try to catch up with them.

'Aye, I know. Just look at all the lace!' I whispered back, my arm linked in hers as we finally reached the clothing shop.

'How you two can stand that weather, I will never know!' Lily declared, as we walked through the threshold, into the shop and met up with them again.

'Oh, stop your complainin' and c'mon and look at the lovely dresses.'

We spent a good half an hour looking at the dresses, as Mary had suggested. They ranged from the gorgeous, soft and smooth dress robes, to the crazy socks that screamed when they needed to be washed. Truthfully, despite the fact I would never voluntarily step foot in this shop, I enjoyed it immensely. I had my eye on a lovely deep burgundy dress that hugged the curves of the mannequin perfectly. I would never buy it though, firstly; I didn't have enough money, but secondly; where on earth would I wear it to?

After that, I managed to cajole the girls into going to Spintwitches - after dropping off my radio at Dervish and Banges - in order to buy my new banner, and check out the new broomsticks. The new Nimbus 1001 was released this year (only a few months ago, actually) and I had to go and ogle it.

I would just have to hint my love for it to my Mum and Dad when I wrote home, hinting that I wanted it for Christmas, or maybe even waiting until my Birthday, but that was too far away. It was mid November and my Birthday wasn't until April the 14th.

In the end, Lily and Mary had to pull me out of the shop, each of them holding an arm as I looked at the lovely broom with wanting eyes, telling it I would be back soon. They dragged me to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, where I bought my new eagle feather quill. By then I had thawed out from my Nimbus frenzy, and managed to go to Tomes and Scrolls with a clear head. Sadly, they didn't have books that interested me, so I left the shop a little saddened by that fact.

We then made our way to Honeydukes, where I bought my Mum and Dad's favourite sweets. Who knows, it may persuade them into buying me the Nimbus (hey, a girl can dream, can't she?).

'We need to go to The Three Broomsticks, I am starving!' Marlene declared as we trudged through the snow, little flakes falling once more and falling in our hair, getting it wet. Our cheeks and noses were bright red with the cold, and I was constantly sniffling.

'I concur.' I agreed, as I looped arms with Lily and Dorcas, who were on either side of me and steered them towards the pub for some food.

The pub was at its usual, completely full, bristling with many people who were either drinking at the bar, or sitting at tables with friends and having food. I could notice a couple of people from Hogwarts, who had also decided to go for a bite to eat. My eyes gazed over the full room, looking for familiar faces, and I saw the four Gryffindor boys at the bar. They each sat on a stool and I could clearly see that James and Sirius were flirting with Madam Rosmerta, the owner of the bar.

'Look at them. They're unbelievable!' Lily hissed as we walked from the door, over to a table that managed to fit all five of us.

'Nah, they're not that bad.' I replied unconsciously, as I turned my head to watch them as I shrugged my jacket off and sat down.

When I turned back to the other girls, they were all looking at me with raised eyebrows and small smirks on their lips.

'What?' I asked, looking each of them in the eye as I tried to figure out what was wrong with that statement.

'"They're not that bad?"' Dorcas repeated, her smirk widening.

'Well they're not, I've been talking to them in History of Magic and when you take away a crowd from them and thus their need to be the centre of attention, then, _they're not_ _that_ _bad_!' I concluded, my eyes fluttering over to them once again. I momentarily caught the grey eyes of Sirius, before I hastily turned away and back to the girls with a smile.

'Right! What d'you want?' I asked, shoving my chair back to get out. 'I'll go and get it.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

We were finally finished with our food and drinks, and I leaned back in my chair, stretching out after sitting down my knife and fork.

'I needed that.' I informed them as I watched my plate vanish from in front of me, obviously going to the kitchens to be washed.

The other girls hummed in agreement, and we soon dug out our purses in order to pay for our food and after that we left the pub.

As soon as we left the pub, we shivered and groaned at the coldness. The difference in temperature was immediately recognisable, from the lovely warm, fire-side heat of The Three Broomsticks to the chilling, harsh coldness of the snow outside.

'Y'know something, Lily? I just realised, you were looking at them as well. Did you see something you liked? Maybe a black, untidy haired boy with glasses?' I asked, giving her a playful shove as I realised this.

It was true, I had just spotted them when I was glancing around the room, she actually brought them up though! I didn't initiate the conversation on the boys!

I laughed loudly as I turned to see her lean down and gather the snow into her hand, patting it into a small, round ball.

'You're going to pay for that, MacNeil!' She declared, before she hurled the snowball towards me.

I just grinned at her before ducking out of the way, the snowball avoiding me and breaking into a million pieces behind me as it went straight into the wall.

'You should know better than to throw things at me, Evans! I grew up with two big brothers and have a passion for Quidditch and I'm closer to my father than my mother! You should _definitely _know better.' I announced, before I too leaned down, gathering the snow in my hands, never minding the fact my fingers were bright red and bitingly cold.

'I'll show you how it's done, Evans!' I exclaimed, before I threw it slightly to her right, thinking she'd most likely dive that way in order to avoid it and true to form, she did. The snowball caught her in her chest and I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud as she lost her balance, and fell on her backside.

'I wouldn't laugh yet, Kara.' Marly shouted out behind me and I turned just in time to see her throw her ball at me. I _just _managed to avoid it and quickly gathered up another ball before hurling it at her. It just scraped her arm and did no real damage.

Needless to say, everyone in the proximity decided that they too would join in with our impromptu snowball fight.

I was having too much fun, the last snowball fight I had was two years ago, when we went up to my Uncle Hamish's - like we did every two years - for Christmas. My brothers, sister, Mum, Dad, Uncle, Aunt, cousins and I all took part. It wasn't a snowball fight, it was a snowball _war_.

And even this was starting to feel like war. Snowballs were flying from every direction, no one cared who they threw their snowballs at, whether it be their best friend or someone that they had never talked to before, it didn't matter, everyone was for themselves.

I noticed Marly running near The Three Broomsticks and I decided to throw my nice ball-of-frozen-water at her, she was the only one that I hadn't got yet - I got Dorcas on her stomach, Lily on her chest, and Mary on her back between her shoulder blades.

Grinning widely, I raised my hand with the ball in it, noticing vaguely that Sirius, James, Remus and Peter had emerged from The Three Broomsticks (where Marly was running to) and probably taking in this wild scene.

I threw my snowball at her.

Sadly, she turned at the wrong moment, saw that I had thrown this at her and ducked out of the way. Thus leaving the track of my snowball open to the four Gryffindor boys.

_Shit_.

It flew straight towards them, catching James square on the chest, causing him to fall back, his friends just catching him before he fell on his backside. His glasses were askew as he looked amongst the crowd of people who had all stopped to watch this scene unfold.

Shit. Shit. _Shit_.

Why?

If I got out of this alive, I would kill Marlene for running their way. I would kill her dead. It was all her fault.

'Who threw that?' Sirius asked, his face completely serious as they looked at everyone, trying to find the culprit.

'She did it, Sirius!' Annie Turner announced, and I turned to see that she was pointing at me.

I didn't even know she had joined in our little fight, if I had, she would've gotten quite a few of my snowballs, hopefully trying to do some kind of damage.

Nah, that was too far, but still.

I looked back to the boys who were looking at me and I couldn't help myself. I grinned at them and shrugged my shoulders.

'It's true.' I answered their gazes, a smirk still on my lips.

Truthfully this situation was too hilarious. I had no idea why I was even afraid. I knew what they were like, I had watched from a distance and I knew they didn't seriously harm anyone, unless they thought they deserved it.

Surely an astray snowball didn't merit severe payback.

'You'll have to pay for that, MacNeil.' James said slowly as he leaned down and picked up some snow in his hands, patting it into a ball.

I sighed, leaned my weight on to one foot and crossed my arms over my chest. He was going to try and hit me back?

If he wished.

He brought his arm back and threw the ball at me.

Leaving it as late as I could, just to rub it in a bit more, I stepped out of the way of the oncoming snowball.

'I thought you were supposed to be a Quidditch player, Potter?' I mocked as I leaned down to gather up a snowball in my hand. 'A Chaser even. How does Gryffindor even _win?'_

'You cheeky little-' He started, clearly joking by the way his eyes were sparkling, but I cut him off before he could finish that sentence by throwing my snowball at him again.

'What was that?' I asked, my smile wide before I started to run away from them and out of their aim.

Suddenly, the snowball fight was back on with a vengeance.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Soon though, it died down, people started getting extremely cold and started heading back up to the castle. We weren't allowed out in Hogsmeade too late and we all liked being back for lunch, in order to get food for nothing really, so with this in mind, we all stopped and trekked back to the castle.

'Oi! Oi, MacNeil!' Someone shouted at me and out of reflex, I had to turn around, only to see James, Sirius, Remus and Peter walking to catch up with us.

Mary and I stopped, signalling to the other girls just to go ahead, they were freezing anyway. It wouldn't be fair for them to stay. We were just outside the castle anyway.

'Aye?' I asked as they reached us, delinking my arm from Mary's to run a hand through my hair, then pulling it up to a ponytail.

'You're a big Quidditch fan.' James opened, and I just quirked a eyebrow at him.

'Aye...'

'You can dodge and throw pretty well.' He continued.

'James, what're you getting at?' I asked, as I started walking towards the castle again. We finally got inside it and started to head for the Common Room.

He hadn't said another word, not until we reached the Common Room. I didn't pressure him for the answer to that question, I don't think I wanted to know.

'Can you fly?' He asked as we finally stepped inside to the nice, warm room of Gryffindor Tower. Lily, Marlene and Dorcas all looked up and smiled at Mary and I, but their smiles soon turned to confusion when they saw who we were with.

'Can I fly on a broom?' I repeated as I walked over to my friends, who were sat in the good seats by the fire.

'Yeah. Can you fly a broom?'

'Well, of course she can fly a broom. You should see her, she's like a lil' flying machine, ain't she?' Mary answered for me, settling down on the floor by the chair that Marlene sat in. She looked up at the other girls at the end, in order to ask her question.

'Definitely. She's always flying when we stay over at her house, her brothers and sister and her are always playing two-aside Quidditch. They try to coax us into playing as well, so it's up to four-aside but we always say no, I mean, we can't fly like those four. It's amazing to watch.' Dorcas answered Mary, turning to look at the four boys with a smile as she answered Mary's question.

I couldn't stop my face from heating up as they talked about my flying techniques. I knew I could fly well, I mean as they said, my family always flied when we were home from Hogwarts and we did play small games of Quidditch. We even introduced my Muggle father into the sport, and even though he couldn't participate in it, he loved to stand back and watch us, refereeing the game. He got the concept quite quickly, especially when we used his favourite sport - football - as a basis of the rules.

'So there you go, I _can_ fly.' I concluded with a smile as I turned back to them, pulling off my jacket and sitting it down on the floor. 'Why d'you ask?'

'I was just wondering why you've never tried out for the Quidditch team. I mean, if you can fly, you can dodge, you can throw and you're a big Quidditch fan, you know the rules and all of that, so, why haven't you tried out?'

I stared at him for about a minute, my eyes wide as I tried to think of the best way to word this.

I coughed. 'Well, um, I guess I just don't like the attention that comes with being on the Quidditch team.' I said slowly, hoping that explained everything.

It should have.

'What does that mean?' Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow and a crooked grin.

'I just don't like being the centre of attention. I'm suited - and used - to fading into the background. But being on the Quidditch team gets you so much attention, everyone in your House puts their faith in you to win the game and the other Houses try to sabotage you before the game, especially Slytherin and c'mon, I'm half-Muggle, I'd be an easy target. No, no, no! I couldn't do it!'

'But if you did, entirely hypothetical case here, but say you did, what position would you try for?' Sirius asked with that crooked grin still on his face.

'I dunno, probably Seeker. I don't have the mentality for a Beater, I couldn't deal with the Bludgers. Keeper seems too boring for me. Chaser, just nah. So, yeah Seeker. It's the one where you can dodge fast, you can win the game for your team, you can end the game, I dunno, it just seems like _me.'_

'Well, our Seeker is in seventh year, so you could try out next year.' James stated with a grin as he ran a hand through his messy black hair.

I laughed. 'Yeah, I'll probably not do _that _but thanks for the hint anyway.' I grinned at them, sliding down the wall beside the fire and sitting down on the floor.

'I wouldn't get too comfy, Kara, we're going down to the Great Hall for lunch right now. We just came up here to drop off our bags.' Lily informed me, standing up and completely ignoring the boys as she so usually did.

'Yeah, yeah.' I grinned, picking up my bags and heading up to the dormitory. 'You guys go ahead, I'll catch up.'

I sat my bags on my bed, I'd put them by later, and I sat down beside them, gazing at my old broomstick that lay beside my bed.

_You should try out for the Quidditch team next year._A voice whispered in my head and I grinned at myself.

'I couldn't do that.' I answered aloud, standing up and walking over to my broom, stroking the wooden handle.

When I would write home, I'd ask for Dad's, Mum's, Owen's and Craig's opinion and then ask Clair's the next time I saw her. She was on the Ravenclaw team anyway, so she could give me some advice.

Smiling at the thought of having that conversation with her, I turned and headed for the Great Hall. If I got the new Nimbus for Christmas or my Birthday, I would try out. That was the deal I made with myself.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

When I finally came back down from the Common Room to the Great Hall, I made my way over to the girls and found that the four boys were there as well.

I had just sat down when a familiar black owl came swooping down in front of me, sitting on the table so that its bright orange eyes were on me.

'Ah, Douglas! What're you doing here?' I asked the owl, scratching it lightly and letting it nibble at my finger before I unfastened the letter from around its foot.

It hopped around the table for a second, and I scratched its feathers again, before it hooted happily and took off, flying either to the Owlery for a rest or back home.

I opened the envelope, pulling out the piece of parchment, noticing it was written by feather and ink, rather than pen. So it was from Mum then.

'Oh my Merlin!' I gasped, the letter falling from my hands, tears welling up in my eyes.

'What is it? Is everything all right?' Lily asked, reaching out to grasp my hand reassuringly.

'Yes, everything is fine. Better than fine, actually.' I answered, my voice getting higher pitched and more emotional with every word. I noticed I had gained the attention of the four boys.

'Owen asked Veronica to marry him, and she said yes!' I exclaimed, tears finally falling down my face.

I'd have to write back to them, congratulate them. Tell them how ecstatic I was for them.

Mary pulled me into a tight hug, congratulating them through me as well, all the girls telling me to offer them their congratulations when I wrote back to them.

'But do you know the best part of this?' I asked as they finally simmered down.

They shook their heads at me.

I grinned at them, then in a sing-song voice, answered them, dancing rather embarrassingly.

'I get to be a bridesmaid, I get to be a bridesmaid.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I sat at a table in a faraway corner of the library, my new quill in my hand and a new piece of parchment on the desk.

_Mum and Dad, Owen and Veronica, Craig and Corinne,_

_First off, let me congratulate you (Owen and Veronica) on your engagement. I knew it was coming, I've already seen the ring, (it's gorgeous Owen, didn't know you had that amount of taste) I saw it in your briefcase for work. Anyway, moving on, Mary, Marlene, Lily and Dorcas also offer their congratulations, and just so you know, Mary will be my date for the wedding. Also, Veronica, I hope I get to be bridesmaid. Wink, wink._

_Secondly, Dad, I need some new Muggle books, I've ran out of the pile I brought with me. So, get me a couple will you? I went to Tomes and Scrolls but they didn't have any. If you do that, I would love you! Even more than I do now anyway._

_Thirdly, I went to Spintwitches and saw the new Nimbus 1001, it is gorgeous. You think it would be a brilliant Christmas present? So do I! I also made a deal with myself that if I got it, I would try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Take the hint my lovely parents. I'd give you the puppy dog eyes and the sweet smile, but this is a letter, not face-to-face so..._

_Coming back to the whole "trying out for the Quidditch team" thing, what do you guys think? I'm mainly looking at you Dad, Owen and Craig. It wasn't my idea, James (a Chaser for the team) hinted I should try out next year, and he's definitely going to be made Captain next year when the current one leaves. Please try and give me some advice._

_Anyway, I think that is everything, I love you and miss you all._

_Kara. x_

_P.S. - I've included some of your (Mum and Dad) favourite sweets from Honeydukes in the package I am sending with you. It is not bribery. Well, not entirely. Love you all._

I sat down my quill with a smile, pulling out my wand and casting a drying-charm on the ink, before placing it into a envelope and writing my address on the front.

I then made my way to the Owlery, hoping that Douglas was still there, so I didn't have to send a school one.

'Oh, hey!' I said as I finally made it into the Owlery and found Sirius sitting on the bench there, a crumpled letter in his hands.

I ran a hand through my hair as he looked up and forced a smile.

In silence, I walked over to Douglas and tied the letter and package to his foot for him to take to my house. Scotia noticed, however, and jumped down just as the black owl took off.

'Sorry, Scotia, I'm not sending you anywhere.' I cooed, before reaching into my robes' pocket and pulling out a treat for her. 'I stole these from your mum, don't tell her.' I grinned, turning away from her only to see Sirius looking at me with a peculiar expression on his face.

I walked over to him and sat beside him. 'What?'

He shook his head. 'Nothing, you just were talking to that owl as if it was a person.'

''Cause technically it is, it can understand me and has its own personality. Not to mention animals are much better company than humans, they listen, they don't judge and they're intensely loyal.'

He was silent for a moment. 'Huh, I never thought of it like that.'

I laughed loudly. 'Well, why should you? You probably weren't brought up by a Vet and an animal lover. My first word - after the usual "mum" and "dad", of course - was "dog", mainly because I was always around them. I learned to walk by using my dog as a ledge to pull myself up and used him as a balance. I was riding a horse when I was three years old. I could tell when a dog wasn't feeling well by the time I was six and knew the correct diagnosis for most serious illnesses, and knew the treatments for them by the time I arrived here at Hogwarts. I knew all the laws behind owning Magical Creatures and knew how to look after most of them.' I paused for a breath as I realised just how animal-orientated my life had been. I chuckled as another thought came into my mind. 'I even learned how to count and do Math by using animals as an example.'

I chuckled again. I remembered a classic question; _if there are two zebras in pen A, and five in pen B, but two from pen B slip into pen A, how many are there in each pen? Simple answer, pen A has four zebras and pen B has three._

We fell silent again and I continued to sit there, despite the fact he probably didn't want me to, but this wasn't his Owlery, and if I wanted to stay here in the nice silence and secluded area of the Owlery, then I could!

My eyes caught the crumpled letter in his hands again and I sighed softly. 'A letter from your family, I take it?'

He turned his head to me, his eyes narrowing marginally.

I raised my hands up in defeat. 'Hey, if you don't want to talk about it, you don't need to, I was just asking in case you wanted to. The other girls always say I'm a listener, that I'm the one they go to vent their problems.' I sighed again. 'But, don't worry, okay? Forget I said anything.'

I stood up, walking over to Scotia and giving her a small stroke, letting her nibble at my finger again before I turned and left him by himself.

I didn't say goodbye to him, he evidently wanted to be by himself, so he deserved to be. Everyone was allowed their time alone and the most popular boy in school was no different.

Why had I even asked him? I barely even knew him. Sure, we talked in History of Magic now, and sometimes in the Common Room but I would hardly call him and the other three my friends. My friends were just Mary, Lily, Marlene, Dorcas and Clair. No one else. So why did I ask him to divulge his personal life to me? If he had asked me that, I would've told him where to go.

I groaned and ran a hand through my hair, pulling my bag even further up my shoulder.

I had planned to do my Astronomy homework, but I decided to leave it till tomorrow when I had my free period. I didn't think I could be bothered doing it now. My mind was completely reeling with trying to find out _why _I had asked him. I honestly didn't think I could concentrate on the stars and planets this moment.

I turned the corner, only to run headfirst into something, losing my balance and falling flat on my backside.

I landed with a huff and a groan, looking up to see who I had banged into.

'Oh.' I answered when I saw who it was. 'David, how are you?'

David Tanner, a Ravenclaw in my year. He was sweet, had shortish blonde hair, (when I say shortish, it wasn't as long as Sirius', who's hung into his eyes and came down the back of his neck, hanging in soft curls, but it wasn't extremely short, like to his skull short. You could certainly entwine your fingers in it.) and brilliant blue eyes. I knew him because he was in my Charms class, and also because he was always in the Ravenclaw Common Room when I went in to see my sister. The Ravenclaw Common Room wasn't opened by a password like Gryffindor, the eagle knocker asked you a question and if you got it right it would grant you access. If you got it wrong, you had to wait till someone came along and answered it correctly, so you were always learning. That was the Rowena Ravenclaw way ("wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure" indeed).

Not to mention, he was probably the only other male - aside from Remus - that I referred to as their first name whilst I was talking to them.

'Sorry! Kara, I am so sorry, I should've watched where I was going!'

I bit my lip to stop myself from grinning, his first reply would be to say "sorry." I hadn't even thought about saying sorry, I just asked him how he was. A question to which I still had no answer.

'Nah, it's fine.' I replied, standing up and wiping my skirt down and my my robe. 'Anyway, how are you?' I repeated as I hoisted my bag back up to my shoulder as it had fell down when I did.

His eyes still seemed to hold a look of concern for me, but I ignored that look. I was fine!

'Uh, yeah fine, thanks, and yourself?' He asked, falling into step with me as I started walking, heading in the direction I had been going. Which led to... Merlin only knows where. Yes, five years in this castle, and I still hadn't a clue about where I was going. I only knew the basics, I wasn't the kind to try and explore the castle. Knowing my luck, I'd wander and then get lost and never find my way back to the Common Room, and years later someone would stumble upon my body.

Aye, the eternal optimistic I was, eh?

'I'm fine. Quite well actually, just came back from the Owlery. My big brother got engaged.'

He turned his head to me and smiled wide. 'Aw, tell them congratulations.'

If Clair hadn't sent her letter back, then I would tell her to include this new congratulations. I had ran over to her as soon as I had finished doing my "creepy-let-me-be-a-bridesmaid-dance" (that's what Marlene had dubbed it) and told her. As it turned out she had also got a letter from Mum and Dad, and we decided to send two separate letters. I would send Douglas and she would send Scotia.

'I will and thanks.' I smiled back at him, every time I was in the Ravenclaw Common Room, I _did _talk to him, he was always easy to talk to. Maybe not as easy as Remus - that boy just seemed to have a power that made you spill words at him - but definitely easier than say Sirius or James. Or at least what I had thought that talking to James and Sirius would be like. As it turned out, they were quite easy to talk to as well.

'You looking forward to the Hallowe'en feast?' He asked and it was then I realised that Hallowe'en was only what, one - two weeks away?

'Yeah, of course I am. I wonder what the boys will think of this year.' I mused with a smile.

Every year it was customary for James, Sirius, Remus and Peter to pull a prank. It changed every year as they always wanted to show they always had new ideas. It ranged from the downright scary (when they jinxed the suit of armours to come alive at random moments and chase you about) to the bloody hilarious (slipping a colour-changing potion into every teacher's goblet, so that by the time they had finished, their hair and robes were bright, vivid colours - how they managed that I will never know). They always got detention, but everyone loved them. No matter what the teachers said, you could always see the side of their mouths tugging as they tried to stop themselves from laughing, seeing as they had to "set an example."

David scoffed. 'Honestly? I don't really care, I never find them funny anyway.'

I stopped in my tracks. 'What?'

'I just don't see what the big deal is with them. What's so special about them? They're just like everyone else.'

'Except they're not.' I replied, before I could stop myself. Well, no wonder! Sure, maybe sometimes they were chauvinistic pigs, but that doesn't rule out the fact that they were extremely smart, and incredibly funny.

He turned his face to meet mine, his eyebrows raised as he looked at me incredulously.

'Oh come on! I'd be the first to admit they are stuck up, arrogant and anything else. But I've spent five years in every one of their classes and I know that they are the best in the year and that when they aren't being vicious towards Slytherins or hexing someone for the fun of it, they generally are funny and pretty amusing.'

He simply shrugged, deciding not to say anymore on the matter. I'm quite sure that if he had, an argument would've ensued, and he was a good person, and a nice person to talk to. I didn't really want to argue with him.

We walked in silence until I was outside the Gryffindor Common Room.

I turned to smile at him.

He opened his mouth looking like he wanted to say something, before he closed it, swallowed and then smiled softly at me.

'Bye, Kara.'

'Yeah, bye David.' I replied before he walked away allowing me to say the password to the Fat Lady.

'He's handsome, isn't he?' She stated, before she swung open, allowing me to enter the Common Room.

My face obviously pulled into a confused look because as soon as I was in view of the girls, they asked me what was wrong.

From the corner of my eye I saw that Sirius had returned from the Owlery and was with his friends.

'David Tanner, first one that comes to mind when you hear that name?'

'Gorgeous.'

'Handsome.'

'Hot.'

'Sweet.'

They all answered at once and I frowned even deeper.

'Why, what's started this?' Marly asked as I threw my bag down and collapsed into a chair.

'He was walking me back from the Owlery and when he left me here the Fat Lady said he was handsome. I just haven't seen him like that.'

'So who have you seen as handsome then?' Dorcas asked and my eyes seemed to unconsciously flutter over to Sirius.

He was handsome, there is no denying it. But he was arrogant, pompous and a bully. A pretty face doesn't mean everything.

'Can't really say I've thought about the eligible bachelors in our year.' I muttered, as I brought my knees and feet up on the chair.

'Ah, din'y hit me with that rubbish.' Mary exclaimed as she sat forward in her chair. 'Every girl here has fantasised about someone.'

'Well I haven't, and why would I?' I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation. Why did our life seem to come down to boys?

'Most of the boys here are immature, would probably blow me off when a better offer comes along and probably couldn't handle a girl who isn't obedient and does as she is told!'

I breathed an angry sigh, that came out more as a huff and stood up again.

'Never mind. I'm going to bed.'

With that, I took off up the stairs, my eyes flicking over to Sirius. I found him looking exactly how he looked in the Owlery, annoyed, and worried. My eyes then landed on James who looked like he just wanted to know what was wrong with his best friend. But no one talks about private things in the Common Room, people could be listening in everywhere, especially when you were James Potter and Sirius Black.

I had made my offer, if he ever wanted to talk, I was here. It was the same for everyone. As long as I had talked to them once before. I was a listener. Not a talker.

I dumped my bag on the floor and proceeded to turn on the radio - well, I would have if it hadn't broken and needed to be taken to Dervish & Banges.

I would've also read a book, but I had none left. Of course. I had only just sent my letter to Dad, so books wouldn't be coming for a few days. Dervish & Banges would owl me when my radio was fixed, but I couldn't collect that until the next Hogsmeade trip, which wouldn't be for another two weeks.

So, with absolutely nothing to do, I flopped onto the bed and laid on my stomach, allowing my elbows to support me and then I pulled out a new piece of parchment that I had bought today at Hogsmeade, my ink pot, and quill and started to draw.

* * *

**_Please review! It means so much to me! I'm eager to know what people think of this story, and I love to hear feedback. _**

**_Also, head over to my Facebook page (the link is on my profile) to see what I imagine Kara, the girls and the Marauders look like! :D_**

**_~Charlotte.x_**


	4. Chapter IV

**_Here is chapter 4 everyone! And it's the last EXTREMELY long chapter! So, be happy! :) _  
**

**_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/added to their story alert/favourites. It really makes my day. I'm sorry if I haven't replied to your review, I have no idea who I have and I haven't, but I WILL with the next review you leave! :D_**

* * *

_~Whispers in the dark,  
Steal a kiss and you'll break your heart,  
Pick up your clothes and curl your toes,  
Learn your lessons, lead me home.~_

_Mumford and Sons - Whispers in the Dark._

* * *

**Chapter IV.**

It was officially Hallowe'en.

Friday 31st of October.

I found myself feeling immensely proud on this day. After all, Hallowe'en did originate from Scotland. We created it. And to know that this traditional thing for us was now celebrated around the world, it did spark some pride, yes. But I felt the same way about golf. Any little thing that originated from Scotland and became world-wide famous, I just felt proud of my heritage. Of being Scottish.

As I made my way to Defence Against the Dark Arts after having the last period off, I couldn't stop myself from glancing around every corner before I turned it. Watching the suits of armour.

It was well known that someone - most likely Dumbledore, he liked his practical jokes - enchanted certain things to come alive and jump out at people. So I was extra cautious.

Not to mention there was also Peeves. He didn't need a reason to pull pranks on students, but on Hallowe'en he just cranked it up. Tipping water over everyone. Dropping things on them.

Thankfully, I made it to the class and I entered it with a sigh of relief.

'You look happy about somethin'.' Mary stated as I sat down beside her.

Lily and Snape sat over the other side of the class. Dorcas and Marlene sat beside us and the four boys sat behind us.

'Psst.' Someone said behind us, but I ignored it, thinking it was just for Dorcas and Marlene.

This was confirmed when they turned to talk to the boys, and I just started pulling out my books and the such. I didn't know if I would need them, but it was better to be safe than sorry, right?

I sat my quill down on top of my book, when suddenly, it floated off of my book and up over my head, directly behind me.

I just looked at it in confusion, turning as it started to move.

My eyes then suddenly landed on Sirius Black, his wand in one hand, my quill in the other. He was leaning back in his chair. A smirk on his lips and his eyes seemingly bored, though they always looked that way. As if nothing entertained him.

'Can I have my quill back?' I asked, not even bothering to say please. Why should I? He stole it from me! And for no apparent reason.

'Not yet.' He replied as he brought his chair back down on to its four legs. 'You didn't turn around when we asked you to.'

I raised my eyebrow.

'What, when you "psst'ed" me? I hardly say that was asking me.' I replied sarcastically, turning back around to the front and completely ignoring the fact he said he had wanted to talk to me.

'Kara? Mary? It's something important.' Dorcas voice pulled me from my huff, and I turned to her.

She was smiling and obviously decided that I needed to hear what they were saying. Dorcas never lied, so I heaved a sigh and turned back to them.

'Right, what?' I asked, leaning my chair back so that the back rested on their desk.

'Remember it's the Hallowe'en party tonight.' Sirius stated as he handed me back my quill, obviously resolving that because I had decided to listen to him, I deserved it back.

'Remember it's costumed.' Peter chided in from the side and my eyes fell on him.

'And remember to get Lily to come.' James added, as he cast a sideway glance to the red-headed girl at the other side of the class.

I giggled. 'That would be hard.'

'Why?' James asked as he turned his head sharply from Lily and back to me. It surely looked painful.

''Cause, I'm not going.' I stated shortly, before thumping my chair back down on all four legs and turning back to the front.

Where was Professor O'Connor, anyway?

'What d'you mean you're not going?' Marlene asked, as she turned her full body around to face me.

'Yeah, I thought you had a costume and everything.' Dorcas added, and I frowned deeply. What was so important about a Hallowe'en party?

'I do. But the main reason I got that was because the rest of you were getting one, and if I left without one, you'd know I planned not to go and then you would force me to.'

'But we're goin' as the best Scottish women in history. I need you there.' Mary added and I turned to her with a glare. She was my best friend, she knew that I wasn't up to partying tonight, due to a certain womanly problem.

Sure, I could go to Madam Pomfrey to get something for the pain, but that doesn't stop the other disgusting side effect of being a woman.

'Mary, you know for a fact that Flora MacDonald and Mary, Queen of Scots weren't around at the same time. It's not like they're, I dunno, Romeo and Juliet. If anything, my other half should be Bonnie Prince Charlie, and yours should be Elizabeth the First.'

She looked at me with narrowed eyes as I had just destroyed her attempt of convincing me to go.

'Aye, well, maybe. But still! You need t'go. It'll be fun.'

'Maybe it will be, Mary. But _not when I feel the way I do_.' I tried to convey my message through those words and my eyes. Hoping I wasn't giving anything away to the boys behind me. Yet, if she didn't realise what I was saying I was doomed. I'd have to be outright honest with her. That would be a great sentence for the boys to hear. "I can't go, I have my period", swell.

Recognition flooded her eyes and she answered me with an "ah".

'What?' Sirius asked and I turned back to him.

'Nothing. But the long and the short of it is, I'm not going.'

I was glad when Professor O'Connor entered and saved me from their reply.

'Now class, I thought we would celebrate the holiday that is Hallowe'en in a way that would relate to it.' He opened as he stood in front of the class, his eyes sweeping over it. 'You may have already dealt with a Boggart before, but seeing as it is Hallowe'en, what better way to end the teaching day than facing your worst fears? Because remember that that's what a Boggart does, it assumes the shape of the thing you fear most, relating entirely to our predicament of Hallowe'en!'

The class muttered enthusiastically at this revelation. Practical classes were always hilarious, fun and simply amazing. Much better than the times we had to read and write notes.

'So, Fifth Years, take out your wands, leave your bags here, and follow me.'

We all got up, the screeching of the chairs against the floor making my blood run cold, and we followed him through the large room that we always practiced in.

We all came into the room, where a large chest sat in the middle, obviously containing the Boggart. We knew how to face them, our third year teacher introduced them to us. Where we learned they were shape-shifters, and when a person stood in front of it, it assumed the shape of the thing they feared most. The only way to get rid of them was laughter, and in order to change from fear to laughter, a simple incantation needed to be spoken (Riddikulus).

'Now, everyone create a line and we'll get everyone to face the Boggart, then we'll call it a day.'

It was official. He was my favourite Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher EVER!

Naturally, the four Gryffindor boys ended up at the front, followed by Isabella Mullen, a Slytherin who was in the Fan Club and would do anything to get near them. Evidently, including facing her worst fear.

I was behind her, with Lily, Dorcas, Marlene and Mary behind me. Snape was behind Lily, unable to go anywhere without her. The rest of the class was behind Mary, obviously not as eager as the rest of us to get on with this. Slytherins never liked teachers like O'Connor, you know the sort? The ones that believe everyone is equal, no matter what your blood is. They only ever liked teachers that came from Slytherin, such as Professor Player when we were in second year. I have the strongest feeling that was Lily's worst year ever.

James stepped up to the front, facing the Boggart. He was the first to go, of course.

'Watch this, it'll probably be something stupid, like a Quidditch thing. That'll be his worse fear, not winning a Quidditch game.' Lily hissed from her place behind me, and I turned to her and reprimanded her with a glare.

We turned back to the front and saw an old man and woman, splayed out dead on the floor. These people were his mother and father, I knew that much. I had seen them saying goodbye to him a few years back on the first of September.

'That doesn't look like something stupid and Quidditch-related, Lily.' I spat back at her, as James still hadn't changed his "dead" parents into something funny.

I wasn't normally one to snap at my friends, but sometimes, the way she made James look annoyed me. How could she think he was the bad person, when she was friends with someone like Snape, a boy who liked using the Dark Arts?

I didn't know James well, I'll admit, but I didn't judge anyone before I got to know them, and I hadn't gotten to know James. But the small conversations we had in History gave me hope that he wasn't as arrogant as Lily made him out to be.

_Unlike Snape_.

For the sake of Lily, I decided to _try _to get to know him and be nice to him. An impossible task, his rude comments every time Lily had her back turned, or the fact I ended up hexed one too many times, meant I didn't attempt it after that. I never told Lily that he hexed me however, he was still her friend, after everything she did for me, she deserved that.

It was getting rather distressing, still seeing the dead bodies there, but eventually, he seemed to thaw out and realise that this wasn't real, and with a smirk on his lips, he muttered the incantation.

Soon, they healed and sprung up from their position on the floor, before they started to dance the "twist and shout" about the floor, causing the full room to erupt into laughter.

With a high-five to Sirius, he walked over to the other side of the room, where Professor O'Connor was, who in turn congratulated James for an excellent execution of the spell.

Sirius then stepped up and James' still dancing parents turned into a tall building. It was made of bricks, it was tall rather than wide and held many windows. The door held the number 12 and held a general feel of unwelcome, even through the Boggart.

Truthfully, I had no idea why Sirius' Boggart was this building. Perhaps it was his home, I knew he didn't get on well with his family. Everyone knew that. News and information about those four, especially James and Sirius, spread like wild-fire around Hogwarts.

So, I deduced that what it was. His house that contained the family that he hated.

Seemed reasonable.

His eyes narrowed dangerously as he said the spell, obviously wanting to get rid of the house as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, the house shrunk down to the size of a small dog and began to hop up and down on the spot. Its once important demeanour vanished as the class - especially the Slytherin girls - erupted into fits of laughter once more.

Remus stepped up and the small house jumped up, turning into a silver orb that hung in the sky, shielded by clouds and dark.

So, Remus' worst fear was the moon? Maybe it represented night or dark. That sounded more reasonable than the actual moon.

His eyes never held any fear as he looked at it, before he exclaimed 'Riddikulus,' and the silver orb turned into a cockroach and began to scuttle around the classroom. The girls jumped out of the way of it, and the boys seemed to laugh at their actions. I say "their" because, whilst I did move _slightly_ out of the way, I didn't go the extreme of Isabella, who screeched and ran around the classroom.

Two guesses what her Boggart was going to be...

Peter stepped up and it turned into a great snake.

Personally, I didn't see the fear behind snakes, sure the slithered and were sneaky, but don't bother them and nine times out of ten, they won't bother you.

However, my experience with them was never bad, seeing as I've always dealt with them with Dad, where he would hold it safely and I would stroke it.

I could understand, though, why people were afraid out them.

I just wasn't.

With his eyes wide and his lip trembling, he pulled out his wand and muttered the incantation just as the snake lunged for him.

It then became defenceless, turning into a helpless, pathetic worm that didn't move one bit as Peter visibly sighed with relief and walked over to his friends.

Next up was Isabella and, rather surprisingly, her Boggart didn't turn into a cockroach, no, it turned into a Manticore - a class XXXXX beast, with a human-like head, a lion's body and a scorpion tail. It's the wizarding world's most dangerous creature and its skin was so tough that it repelled any magical spell aimed at it. It had the ability of human speech, which added to its scary and spooky feel.

It began to coo at her, its normal procedure before it attacked you and ate you.

Yet, despite the fact she wasn't the brightest person in the class, she still managed to cast the spell and caused its stinger on its tail to grow, and the sudden weight change caused it to fall backwards, rendering it helpless, like a turtle that had fallen over onto the back of its shell.

I didn't like the girl, she had used my blood against me too often to even try to like her, but I had to laugh as it constantly tried to pull itself back up but failed to.

Then it was my turn.

As Isabella moved away from the front, over to the other side of the classroom - probably to the dismay of the other boys - the Boggart started to change, turning from the helpless Manticore, till it settled on my worse fear.

A dog.

Not just any dog, mind you. I loved dogs.

No, this dog was stick thin; every bone in his body was visible as its skin was stretched thinly over him. The poor thing had no muscle and was struggling to stand up, his poor legs wobbling as he tried to move forward, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Down his face, from above his eyes down his snout, and all over his body was gashes, and his long fur was matted with blood and dirt and grease.

Tears were already stinging my eyes.

Trust my Boggart to be an abused and neglected animal. I put it down to seeing far too many animals like this in my Father's line of work.

Yet, the Ravenclaw side of my wouldn't allow myself to be fooled. This _was _a Boggart, it wasn't a real dog that I could help. It was a creature that I had to repel with laughter.

So, with my lips pulling into a smile, I uttered the spell and the dog healed itself - of course.

Though, this wouldn't gain laughter, so in turn, he then flipped backwards with a bark, causing the girls behind me to laugh at its cute movement.

Merlin, even the cold-hearted gits of Slytherin were laughing at it.

With a clap on my shoulder from Lily, I made my way over to the Professor, the four boys, and Isabella.

'Well done, Miss MacNeil.' Professor O'Connor congratulated me, before I moved as far away from Isabella as I could, thus putting me beside Sirius, James, Remus and Peter.

I tried to watch Lily, who's Boggart had taken the shape of her parents, and from what I could see, they were shunning her for being a witch; much like her sister, Petunia, had done.

However, the boys had another idea.

'MacNeil, why aren't you coming to the party?' One of them asked, judging by the fact his voice was slightly deeper, I was guessing it was Sirius.

'Yeah, we can talk Quidditch and all that good stuff.' James added from Sirius' side and I groaned instead of answering them.

I should NOT have mentioned anything in that History of Magic class. I should NOT have dispersed their Fan Club for them. Then, I could've stayed Unnoticeable MacNeil, who no one would've cared if I didn't come to a party, except my friends, but they would've understood.

'I'm just not feeling up to it.' I replied, as I watched Lily's parents stay the same, but instead of spouting horrible words at her like "freak" (like her sister often called her), the called her "beautiful" and "wonderful".

With a smile, she marched over to me, and I was thankful, she'd stand up for me against James, she would do anything just to get an argument from him.

'Evans,' James greeted as soon as she was standing beside me.

She didn't even acknowledge him, she merely smiled at me and turned back to watch Snape.

'You should tell your friend to come to the party tonight.' He continued, apparently not caring that she was trying her hardest not to pay any attention to him.

He could be thick sometimes, I suppose.

'What friend?' Lily asked, not taking her eyes off of Snape as his Boggart turned into a man that looked like him. The same black greasy hair, the same hooked nose, the same dark eyes. Apparently his father. Lily had told us that his father was a horrible man. Abusive; both mentally and physically, it was one of the rare times I genuinely felt sorry for him. Then he would spout a word like "mudblood" behind Lily's back and that sympathy would completely disappear.

'Why, MacNeil of course, she's told us she isn't coming.' Sirius added and I turned quickly to glare at them.

'Why can't you just leave it? I said I'm not coming, you should respect my decision!'

I thought Lily would agree with me, but she whipped her head around to meet mine, her red hair spinning out around her.

'Why aren't you coming? I thought you were! You were going as Flora MacDonald, what's changed?'

I glared at her.

'Well, it's official, you can now be my ex-friend, how does it feel?' I asked her before turning my attention back to the class. Snape was crossing over to us and Dorcas stepped up and her Boggart turned into Chimaera, a class XXXXX beast once again, with a lion head, a goat's body and a dragon's tail. They are viscous and blood-thirsty; a reasonable fear.

'Oh, don't be so dramatic.' Lily reprimanded, swatting my arm playfully with her hand. 'Seriously though, why aren't you coming?'

I sighed heavily.

There was no way I was going to get out of this without her knowing the truth.

I leaned in close, so my lips were near her ear.

'A certain womanly problem.' I whispered in her ear and she gasped in acknowledgement. 'I can take something for the pain, but it hardly stops the pathetic feelings. How can I go to a party, when I feel like shit?'

I pulled back, and she looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

'I can get you something.' She answered immediately. 'There is this thing that balances the mood swings. It's only for a few hours, but it'll get you through the party. Please. It'll be fun. Even with the fact it's thrown by those two.' She added with a pointed glare at James and Sirius.

I considered this, as I watched Dorcas cross over and Marlene step up, and turned the Boggart into a large clown. It's painted face smudged and its teeth pointed. She had always feared those, ever since she was small and her father - who was fascinated with Muggles - brought one home for her birthday party.

I sighed in defeat.

'Fine.'

'So, you're coming now?' Dorcas asked, and I smiled a small smile in reply.

'Great, wait until we tell Mary.' Dorcas sated, as we watched Marlene stroll over to us.

We all turned back to watch Mary as she faced her Boggart. A Banshee. She hated them. Absolutely despised them, she hated the fact the were only common in Ireland and Scotland. I have to admit, I could see why. It has a green-tinged skeletal face, with floor length, black hair that closely resembled rat-tails.

She had to act fast, Boggarts were known to get the power of the creatures that they took the form of, so this Banshee could very well close her eyes and open her mouth to scream, and kill us all.

Thankfully for Mary, because it _was _a Boggart, rather than a real Banshee, she didn't have to break its neck when she closed her eyes to scream, she could just turn it into something funny.

Which she did.

The Banshee's scream came out strangled and her skeletal face deepened until it collapsed into a pile of dust on the floor.

The class erupted with laughter, especially when Mary couldn't stop herself from kicking and spreading the dust, before proceeding to walk over to us.

She held her hand up for a high-five, and I couldn't not give her one.

'Have you heard the brilliant news?' I asked her as I threw my arm around her shoulder.

'No, what is it?'

'They've talked me into going.' I answered for and braced myself.

Sure enough, she threw her arms around me and giggled.

'Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!' She repeated before letting me go.

'You are an insane little Scottish girl, d'you know that?'

She grinned and playfully shoved her shoulder into mine, causing me to stumble slightly.

Due to the fact all of our friends had already been, we zoned out of the rest of the class, mainly because it was just Slytherins left and we didn't care about them.

Eventually though, the full class had finally faced their Boggart. All except one.

'Sir, you haven't faced it yet.' I stated before he could start ushering us back to the classroom.

'Aye, you should Sir, everyone else did it, you should to!' Mary added as we looked at him with grins on our faces.

'C'mon, Sir.' Lily added, and soon the rest of the girls were trying to persuade him to face the Boggart.

With a grin, Professor O'Connor stepped up the Boggart, which after deliberation decided on two little girls, both with blonde hair pulled into pig tails, lying on the floor, dead.

He did not seemed phased by this, however, obviously knowing that these girls - most likely his daughters - were still alive.

With a wave of his wand, the two girls jumped up and started running around the room, giggling exuberantly.

I noticed two things, that he didn't even say the incantation; he could do it silently, showing just how talented a wizard he was. He also smiled so wide as he watched his two daughters run wildly around the room.

'Are those your daughters, Sir?' Dorcas asked softly as he finally banished the Boggart, getting rid of it completely.

'Yes.' He answered, before he motioned for the class to go through to the main classroom.

'What are their names?' I questioned as Mary and I walked beside him, in order to go back to the class.

'Sarah and Bethany.'

'They're lovely.' I commented lightly before making my way over to my desk, packing up my books and other utensils and slinging my bag over my shoulder.

'Ready t'go?' Mary asked me, and I nodded silently, before following her out of the classroom and heading to the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en Feast.

As we walked into the Great Hall, we were greeted by the ambiance of Hallowe'en. The candles that normally floated in the air near the glass roof were replaced with Jack O'Lanterns. Live bats were either flying around the room or nestled up in a corner. The majestic birds that adorned the walls were all holding their usual basket of fire. The food on the table was just normal food, but some were decorated to resemble the Hallowe'en feeling, or to resemble the Hallowe'en colours such as orange, and black, and red. The professors up front were also dressed in these colours, to continue with the feeling of Hallowe'en. Rumours were flying around the Dumbledore had hired a quartet of vampires to sing.

'Shame they aren't doing apple dooking.' I said to Mary, as we sat down next to each other. Marlene and Dorcas sat across from us, while Lily sat next to me, in order to get away from James, who sat on the other side of Mary. Sirius sat beside him, and Peter and Remus sat across from them, beside Marlene.

'Aye.' She agreed at the exact same moment Marlene asked, 'What's "apple dooking"?'

I just stared at her incredulously.

'You've never heard of apple dooking? Dunking for apples? Seriously?'

I even turned to the boys, but everyone just shook their heads.

I laughed once. 'Well, what you do is you get a basin full of water, add apples into it, then what you've to do is stick your head into the water and try to catch an apple without your hands. Y'know, you've to bite it and then bring it back up and you get to eat it.'

'It's traditional in Scotland, another way you can do it is t'put a fork in your mouth and try and catch an apple by droppin' the fork in t'the water.'

'I've tried it both ways, and trust me, sticking your head in the water is better.' I added with a wide grin. 'It's so fun.'

'Really?' James asked from his place beside Mary and I leaned forward to look at him.

'Honestly. If you don't believe me, I think you should have it at the party tonight, then you can decide for yourself.'

'I don't know.' Sirius informed and I just grinned wickedly at him. I wanted the chance to go dunking for apples, it was our fifth year and they hadn't held it once, and due to the fact I hadn't been home for Hallowe'en since I was ten, that was the last time I had done it.

'What? Afraid to get your hair wet?' I taunted with a smirk as the girls around me laughed.

I reached for spicy chicken, and brought it on to my plate, before reaching for chips, when suddenly a head popped out from it.

A part of me had been expecting something, so I just moved the chips on to my plate, much to the annoyance of Sir Nick.

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, or more commonly known as Nearly Headless Nick by the people around the school. He was the Gryffindor House Ghost, as he was sorted into Gryffindor whilst he was at Hogwarts, and died on Hallowe'en in 1492. He didn't scare me as much as he used to, except the odd times when he showed the new first years his... uh... "injury".

That still freaked me out.

'I didn't scare you.' He stated as his full body finally appeared and he stood on the table.

'Nope.' I answered as I looked up to him. 'I was sort of expecting it, Nick.'

He looked disheartened.

'But,' I started. 'If it's any consolation, you did freak out the first years, over there.' I pointed with my fork and he turned to the little group of first years, who were still looking at him, their eyes wide with fright.

'Why thank you, Miss MacNeil.' He saluted, before gliding over to the little first years and starting to tell them exactly why he was called "Nearly Headless Nick".

'Well, that's ironic.' I muttered before eating a couple of chips.

'I know.' Mary confirmed from my side. She too had noticed the irony, just goes to show how linked we really were.

'What?' Lily asked, she had just turned back to us after scolding a young Gryffindor for throwing food.

'A ghost that I barely talk to can remember my name, but my Potions teacher that I've had for five years can't.'

'What d'you mean? Slughorn doesn't remember your name?' James asked, apparently having been listening in to our conversation.

'Haven't you heard him?' Marlene questioned as her eyes flickered over to the Potions Master, who was munching away at his Hallowe'en dinner, completely unaware that we were talking about him.

'Her name changes every time he talks to her.' She continued. 'McNally, is one of them.'

'Matthews is another.' Dorcas added.

'Montgomery.' Was Lily's addition.

'Morrison.' Mary concluded the name round.

'Right, if we are finished with the "Wrong names for Kara by Slughorn" game, we will return to our Feast.' I hissed, as I narrowed my eyes at them threateningly.

'So, he's never got your name right?' Sirius asked slowly and I nodded my head.

'I think the closest he has ever got was Marlene's one, "McNally", its the closest to MacNeil he has ever got.'

'But that's not that close.' Peter mumbled through a mouthful of food.

I giggled. 'Exactly.'

'That's not right.' James asserted and I just shrugged, not really in the mood for a debate on whether or not Slughorn should know my name by now.

We eventually made our way back up to the Common Room, ready to go and get dressed for the party tonight.

'Remember, be down here for eight o'clock.' Sirius reminded us as we started to walk up the stairs to the Dormitory.

'We will be.' Marlene stated, as we all trudged up the stairs and I didn't look back down to them as I ascended.

'Right, Lily, give me this potion.' I demanded as soon as we had closed the door behind us.

She smiled sympathetically as she dashed over to her bedding area and opened her trunk. She pulled out a purple bottle and handed it to me.

'A sip should do.' She directed as she turned to pull out her costume. 'It's best to take it with some juice.'

I nodded as I pulled out a bottle of juice, deciding it would be better to follow her instructions and added a bit of the potion to it.

I downed it quickly, before moving over to get my costume out, hoping Lily wasn't lying when she said this potion worked. But then again, Lily very rarely lied and if it didn't work, why would she keep it in her trunk?

As stated before, Mary had decided to go as Mary, Queen of Scots, mainly because they shared the same name. She pulled her black hair up into a high bun, and she stuck some pins that had pearls on the edge into it; she also adorned a crown in front of the bun as well. Her dress was big, like an Elizabethan dress, yet the cut was lower; it didn't have a high collar and was completely unacceptable as I could see her ankles, as well as most of her lower leg, seeing as the dress ended at her knees.

Lily had decided to go as a Forest Nymph. Or a Dryad as I jokingly called her. (I'd make sure to tell James to call her that, she liked it better than Forest Nymph). She had a knee length, green dress which was jagged and resembled the leaves on a tree. Her sleeves ended at her elbow and were billowy and floaty, made from green chiffon. She wore small brown boots and her auburn hair was messed up slightly, with a crown of twigs placed atop of her head.

Marlene, due to her beautiful blonde hair and her soft features decided to go as an Angel. Her dress was also knee length, but white with a pleated skirt, and a gold ribbon around her waist. Her sleeves were also billowy like Lily's, yet they extended all the way down to her wrist, covering her hands, but they hung off her shoulders, revealing her defined collarbones. She had cast a spell to create a glowing halo that sat above her head. She left her hair down and kept it straight, except it had the odd wave to create volume. She wore gold lace up shoes, that stopped just below her knees, which was pretty much the icing on the cake.

Dorcas, our voluptuous beauty had decided to show off her curves and opted to be a Siren. She wore a baby blue dress that hugged her curves beautifully, accenting them perfectly. It flowed out of the bottom, giving her the appearance of having a tail. Her black hair had been enchanted to permanently look wet without having the nasty side affect of water dripping off her. She couldn't find any shoes that would've went with her costume and so decided to go barefoot, placing a charm on them to stop any dirt or damage coming to them.

I, who had no plans of ever actually attending this party, was going as Flora MacDonald, the woman famous for helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escaping after his failed attempt to secure the throne. I had stuck with the most famous painting of her and opted to wear a white, floaty, long sleeved blouse, underneath a knee length blue dress. Of course, she didn't wear a knee length dress, as it was entirely inappropriate during her time, but I wasn't going down looking like an old fuddy-duddy, even if it was historically incorrect. I also wore the MacDonald tartan - courtesy of Mary - as a cape that was attached to my shoulder. My brown hair was left down, with a flower hair piece entwined into it.

Needless to say, I was sure I could pass as Flora MacDonald, just as Mary could pass as the Queen of Scots, Lily could pass as a Dryad, Marlene could pass as an angel and Dorcas could definitely pass as a Siren, even including the fact she didn't have a tail.

I thought it was quite ironic that the girl with the most curves, was the girl that wouldn't do anything with a boy that she wasn't in love with. I was the girl with the most curves after Dorcas, having quite a lot in the way of breasts and hips. I'm not saying that Lily, Marlene and Mary were small in those areas, they were just smaller than Dorcas and I.

Why am I even talking about this?

'Kara, I've invited your sister too.' Mary informed me, as we made our way downstairs at eight to join the party.

'When did you do that?' I asked, with wide eyes.

'I was talkin' t'her a couple of days ago, and I told her about the party, and I asked her if she wanted t'go.' She declared as we were finally on safe ground in the Common Room. 'And the boys did say invite who we wanted to.'

'When is she coming?' I asked, looking over to the hatch that was the entrance to the Common Room. I had been in the Ravenclaw Common Room a good number of times, and she had been in here just as often.

'I told her it started at eight, and she said she'd be there, waiting outside t'be let in.'

The boys were the only other people in the Common Room, but I knew they had told everyone else to be down by quarter past eight, instead of actually eight.

I nodded at her before walking to go to the door, when what Mary said stopped me in my tracks.

'She's bringin' David as well.'

I turned my head back round to face her sharply, a muscle in my neck pulling.

'What?' I practically roared, gaining the attention of the four boys.

'What?' I repeated again, a little more quietly.

'What's the matter?' She asked, apparently shocked at my outburst.

Maybe I was over reacting, but the last time I talked to him he told me he didn't like James and Sirius, and now, here he was, attending the party they were throwing for Hallowe'en? Not to mention, he stated that he hated all of their pranks that they pulled, and didn't think they were funny. Why would he be coming here?

'Oh, never mind.' I hissed, before heading over to the hatch to see if they actually had arrived.

Of course, they had.

My little sister had decided to come as a Gypsy, a short sleeved, puffy blouse, with a blue floor length swirly skirt. She wore a scarf around her waist and another to bring her blonde hair up. She held a tambourine in her hand and looked ready to dance as soon as music started playing.

David had concluded to come as Sherlock Holmes? At least I guessed it was Sherlock Holmes, he had the classic deerstalker hat, the cape, the magnifying glass, the pipe. I loved Sherlock Holmes, out of all the Muggle detective novels I had read, Sherlock Holmes would always be my favourite. (It had nothing to do with the author being Scottish, nothing at all - okay, maybe a little.) But how did he know about Sherlock Holmes? He was a Pure-Blood, why would he know about a Muggle fictional character?

'Sherlock Holmes, and Esmeralda?' I stated, signalling from David to my sister, who was obviously Esmeralda from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame.", the enchanted goat beside her was a dead give away, who was obviously supposed to be Djali . 'What an odd pair.'

I stepped aside, and signalled for them to follow me into the Common Room, which had slowly filled up with people.

'Who are you supposed to be?' David asked, as I made my way over to the other girls.

I turned back to Clair and him with a grin. 'Guess!'

Clair looked at me, narrowing her eyes a smidgen, before they widened in recognition. 'Flora MacDonald.'

I nodded and then started looking around the room, looking for any evidence that the boys had stayed to their agreement and were having dunking for apples.

Just as I was about to turn, two of the boys in question bounced up behind me and declared their intentions.

'We've got a basin full of water and apples, but you're going first!' James instructed. I turned to see what he had decided to come as and it turned out he was a Vampire. His normally messy and sticking-up-in-all-ends black hair was slicked back with gel, trying to give himself a Dracula look. His skin had been whitened and he was dressed in a Muggle suit, with a black and red cape.

I then noticed that Sirius had come as a pirate. He wore a white shirt, that was artfully stained, a grey waistcoat over that and knee length breeches with brown boots. He had left his head bare, decided that because we were still inside he didn't need a hat. However, he still had a sword attached to his narrow waist, I mean, no pirate was a pirate without a sword, even a dress-up pirate.

'Fine,' I concluded, before turning back to my sister. 'They haven't heard of dooking, you see.'

Her face was priceless as I told her this, after all, we had known all about it since we were, what? Five? Six?

'But, I talked them into holding it.'

She laughed and smiled widely. 'Great, let's go! I haven't done it in years!'

She linked my arm and I signalled for the boys to show me where the had set up the basin.

I followed them and realised that they were leading us towards where Remus and Peter were standing.

Peter was dressed up as a rat. Wearing brown trousers and a brown shirt and pink tail. He had painted whiskers on to his face and put on a pair of ears. Compared to the other two, his costume was mediocre, but still, it wasn't a bad costume.

Remus on the other hand, was up to par with the others. He wore bright purple robes, and a matching hat that adorned his long grey hair. He also wore a matching silver beard.

I giggled lightly as we all approached him. 'Dumbledore or Merlin?'

'Merlin.' He replied with a grin, and I laughed only to be cut short when Clair pinched my arm and I turned to her with a glare.

Oh, of course, she had a huge crush on Remus, so apparently I wasn't allowed to talk to him and joke with him, even though when given the opportunity, she doesn't open her mouth to talk to him.

Bloody woman.

'Either way, it's a nice costume, Remus.' She said softly and I had to stop my mouth from dropping open. Did she really talk to him?

Are we in a parallel universe?

'Right, show us what to do.'

I grinned, forgetting about Clair then, and started taking out the flower pieces from my hair, and removing my wand from my hair as well, I had stuck it up there for safe keeping.

I handed them to Mary, aside from Clair she was the only person I could probably trust completely with my wand.

I pushed my hair away from my face, and then stuck my face in the water, opening my eyes and ignoring the stinging. I felt an apple with my nose as I moved about trying to find one. I readjusted myself and then bit down hard on the apple, catching it between my teeth, before resurfacing.

I spit the apple out of my mouth, catching it in my hand and I wore a proud grin.

What was that? Less than 30 seconds? I still had it.

'That's how it's done.' I said, gloating before I took a bite from my apple and then took my wand back from Mary, drying my face and my hair, before replacing the flowers.

I was thankful. I had decided not to wear any makeup, after all, I'm sure panda-eyes and patching foundation and the such wasn't attractive.

'Try it.' I goaded, looking from Sirius, to James, to Remus, then to Peter and even to David, to see who would go first.

'I'll try it.'

David had opted to try it first - which shocked me, after all, the four Gryffindor boys weren't one to back down to a challenge.

He removed his deerstalker, and placed his pipe inside it, and I took them from him. Glad to see someone was planning on being a fool like me.

He moved over to the basin, and this had attracted some attention from everyone else in the room. After all, according to the other girls, he was probably the third most eligible bachelor, after Sirius and James. Or maybe second, seeing as James only had eyes for one girl; Lily. And if you weren't her, then you could kiss your opportunities of being with him goodbye.

So while David didn't have a fan club, he did have a heap of admirers.

But also like Sirius and James, I wasn't one of them.

He ducked his head into the water and soon emerged with an apple, grinning widely. I couldn't stop myself from giving him a small embrace. He hugged me back, a little tighter and closer than I expected but I didn't care.

Okay... so, maybe, that thing I said before about not being an admirer for him... can I maybe take it back?

I manoeuvred my way out of his embrace, after all, there were a great deal of people watching, and if this hug lasted any longer, people would start to talk.

But in that hug, did I feel something? I have to admit, since thinking about what the girls said, every time I went into the Ravenclaw Common Room, I did sneak a little peek at him, to see if I could see the attractiveness, and as of late, I have been.

His startling blue eyes, his blonde hair fell into a nice shed and he did have nice facial structure, such as high cheekbones and a defined jaw which was accented by his hair.

Thankfully, tomorrow was a Saturday, meaning no classes, so I could take Mary aside and have a little chat with her, giving me advice on what to do about it.

I handed him back his props and then moved over to Clair, noticing that his face fell slightly. Was that because I hugged him? Or because I stopped hugging him? Or what?

'Right Clair, you next.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Eventually, the party did die down. The boys had finally caved and stuck their head in the basin, after all they were never one to be outshone. Peter and Remus failed in their attempts, having to resurface for air before they could bite an apple. James and Sirius both resurfaced triumphantly with an apple in their mouth.

The girls had also tried and only Mary and Clair managed to succeed.

I woke up on Saturday at ten o'clock, happy that I was getting a lie in during the weekend. Thank God and Merlin both for weekends, that is all I can say.

I got changed into Muggle clothing, as we were allowed to wear casual clothing when we didn't have class, another thing I was thankful for, I could finally get out of skirts and into comfy trousers.

Just after we were finished breakfast and were heading back to the Common Room to sit (normally we went to the Black Lake, but with it being a freezing winter, we weren't about to go out there any time soon), I grabbed Mary's hand and marched her into a empty classroom, telling the other girls we would be five minutes.

'What the hell are you doin'?' She demanded as soon as I had closed the door. Her tone wasn't angry or annoyed like someone else might've been - we were practically sisters after all - she was just curious.

'I think I fancy David Tanner.'

Her face would've been priceless if I wasn't feeling completely vulnerable with this revelation.

'What?'

'I think I fancy David Tanner.' I repeated, much more slowly, hoping she didn't ask me to repeat it again, that would be too humiliating.

She laughed shortly. 'What makes you think that? D'you want t'do somthin' dirty with him every time you see him?' She asked with a wicked grin.

'You're an evil cow.' I hissed. 'Why am I your friend?'

''Cause you love me.' She replied quickly, that grin still not leaving her stupid mouth.

'Help me instead of teasing me!' I pleaded desperately.

'Why d'you need help? Just go and ask him out t'Hosgmeade or somethin'.'

I just stared at her.

Oh, she is just full of great advice, she is! "Oh, hi David, we talk every time I'm in the Ravenclaw Common Room, and I was just wondering if you wanted to to go to Hogsmeade with me? - insert his "no" here - oh, okay, I'll go and disappear then." Why did I decided to tell her?

'I'm guessin' by your face that wasn't the answer you expected?'

'No. No it was not, Mary!'

'Well, personally, I think he fancies you as well. You told me he told you he didn't like the boys, s'why would he turn up at the party they were holdin'? Unless he knew someone special was goin' t'be there.'

'Yeah, Marlene, Dorcas and Lily.' I muttered, feeling disheartened, was this her attempt to cheer me up?

'No, didn't you see? He was beside _you _all the time. He couldn't take his eyes off of _you _all the time! Not Marlene, not Dorcas and not Lily. It was you.'

I thought about that. After the whole apple dooking incident died down and the party was left to its own devices, he and Clair didn't leave my side. Except the odd time when I went to the bar for some drink, eyeing Sirius doubtfully as he handed me a drink, I had seen him spiking other people's drink all night. I didn't want any alcohol in mine and he was constantly assuring me he didn't put any in mine, and he was speaking the truth. I could remember everything from last night, and woke up the next morning with a clear head.

Thankfully.

Thinking about what Mary was saying, about him maybe having a crush on me as well, I thought about the hug we had shared after he had caught an apple. He did seem to take every opportunity after that to make some contact with me, even if it was just bumping into me as he moved out of the way and let people pass.

Oh, shut it Kara! You're over-analysing things!

'S'what you could do is wait and see if he asks you out, maybe he will.'

'Or maybe he won't.' I finished for her.

'Or maybe he won't, but either way you'll know where you stand.'

I smiled at her, moving over to give her a cuddle, which she obliged, though she pretended to protest. I knew she loved them.

'When did you get so psychological?'

'I spend most of my waken moments with you.'

'Oh, how lovely.' I said sarcastically as I finally let her go. 'You saucy little mare. C'mon back to to the Common Room, I'm sick fed up with it being just me and you now.'

'As am I.'

And with those rather unfriendly, yet friendly for us words said, we linked arms and headed back to the Common Room, not even bothering to tell the girls what we were talking about.

While I did trust them, and truly loved them, I just wasn't as close to them as I was with Mary, so right now, I couldn't share this secret with them yet.

And they knew this, and understood this, so didn't pressure me.

Soon, our conversations turned to the next Hogsmeade visit, who we were going with, OWLs and the upcoming Christmas Ball that the rest of the school didn't know about yet.

But we did, thanks to our lovely Lily.

* * *

**_So, what do you all think of that? Review and let me know! _**

**_Also, head over to my Facebook page to see what I think Kara and the rest of the people look like! :D The link is on my profile page! _**

**_PLEASE review! _**

**_~Charlotte.x_**


	5. Chapter V

**_Here we go! The shorter chapters begin now! This is sort of a filler, but still essential to the story line. ;) _  
**

**_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story! It means so much to me! I love writing this!_**

* * *

_~Good times, _  
_Bad times,  
You know I've had my share.~_

_Led Zeppelin - Good Times Bad Times._

* * *

**Chapter V.**

A couple of weeks before Christmas, the Christmas Ball was finally announced to the rest of the school. Sometimes it truly paid to have a Prefect as a friend, seeing as we had known about it for months. We hadn't done anything about it, though, not wanting to give anything away to everyone else, but we did sit in our Dormitory, talking about what colour of dress we would wear, or who we were going with.

Well, Dorcas, Lily, Marlene and Mary talked about this, I sat in my bed, rolling my eyes at the ceiling and chipped in whenever I needed to, but other than that I wasn't that fussed about it.

However, when it was announced to the general public, I started to realise why they had been discussing it for so long. Everyone went INSANE!

The times we were allowed into Hogsmeade and then went into Gladrags it was always mobbed, with the girls from Fourth Year upwards looking at dresses they were planning on wearing to the Ball.

Frankly, it was too bloody much for me, so I found myself escaping to the Ravenclaw Common Room to be with Clair, who was so much like me when it came to stuff like this. We sat in a corner and rolled our eyes at the very idea. Of course, we still talked about the Ball and what we were wearing and who we were going with but at a level that was tolerable.

Clair initially wanted to go with Remus, of course, but concluded that wasn't likely so started thinking about other people that she wouldn't mind spending the Ball with. Such as Dillon Welsh, a Gryffindor in her year, who had asked her and she said she would think about it, so by the week before the Christmas Ball and Remus hadn't asked her - or anyone for that matter - she agreed to go with Dillon, who in truth was a lovely person.

I had thought about going with David, or at least asking him but I still hadn't done it by the time it was exactly one week before the Ball.

The Ball was scheduled for the Friday, the last day of school before the Christmas holidays. We were allowed into Hogsmeade on the Wednesday in order to get anything that we needed such as new dress-robes and the such like, seeing as most of us didn't pack any when we came back. But before that, on the Monday, we had dancing lessons with our Head of House, in our case McGonagall.

The lessons were to be held in Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration classroom, but the actual Ball was to be held in the Great Hall, with the minor adjustment of the tables being removed.

So, after our last period of lessons, the Fourth and Fifth Year Gryffindors were to gather in the Transfiguration classroom and wait until McGonagall arrived, which is what we were doing right now.

Mary, Marlene, Dorcas, Lily and I were all sat up the back on the right hand side of the classroom with the other girls from the year below us.

The boys were on the other side of the classroom; it was an unspoken rule, we _weren't _going to mingle! It was bad enough we were being made to dance, we weren't going to be eager to dance with them. Well, I wasn't. I knew the other girls didn't really like the boys in Gryffindor, so they weren't eager either. But the girls in the year below us were probably hyperventilating at the idea that they could dance with Sirius Black or James Potter, who wouldn't care about you unless you were Lily Evans.

The announcement of the Ball was made three weeks ago on Friday, giving us a week to prepare and the such like, and so, it was no surprise that when we woke up on Saturday and made our way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, that they intercepted us and James asked Lily to accompany him to the Ball.

Of course, she said no. Though when she turned him down, it was rather nicer than the other times he had asked her out to Hogsmeade.

By today, Marlene had a date, and, much to James' dismay, so had Lily.

Lily had decided to go with Dylan Smith, a Ravenclaw in our year who was best friends with David. He had black hair that hung into his chocolate brown eyes, most girls in the school would've happily gave an arm and a leg to go with him. Which was slightly less than what people would give to go with Sirius or James; that being their entire body.

Marlene was going with the Hufflepuff, Ross Turner, who was Annie's cousin. He had the same blonde hair, and light blue eyes, but was generally much nicer than Annie ever could be.

Dorcas had some attention, but hadn't decided on anyone yet as she felt she couldn't connect with the boys that had already asked her.

Mary had agreed to go with Benedict Grayson, a Hufflepuff in the year above us, who had been the first person to ask Mary and she jumped at the idea, she had always had a crush on him and watched him from a distance. He had hazel eyes, that seemed to change colour every time I saw him, and brown hair, that was cut super short, as well as a square-ish jaw.

Later that night when she was asked she told me it was rather ironic that one of the girl who didn't get noticed was the first to get a date.

So, right now, it was only Dorcas and I who didn't have any dates, but I was just trying to get up the courage to ask David, or hope and pray that he was going to ask me.

McGonagall entered the room, a large record player floating behind her and Filch coming in behind that.

'Okay, 4th and 5th years, as you are well aware, the Christmas Ball is coming up and I've decided that you all should be given tips on dancing, seeing as this is your first Christmas Ball, where you've to show class and etiquette.' Professor McGonagall took a pause, looking around the students in her house. 'I shall need a volunteer from the boys and a volunteer from the girls.'

She looked between the two sides of the Hall, where all the girls stood in one side and all the boys stood in the other. No one was eager to make a full of themselves in front of their friends from the boy's side, and the girls didn't want to volunteer, then get stuck with someone they didn't care for.

McGonagall sighed in frustration. 'Fine, _I _will pick the volunteers. Miss MacNeil, I believe you were supposed to serve detention with me tonight, if you do this well, then you won't need to.'

That's right, I was to serve detention for her tonight because I was caught jinxing a Slytherin who was teasing a little first year and calling her a "mudblood", something I wasn't happy about. So despite the fact I thought he deserved it, I still needed some sort of punishment, thus the detention.

'Same goes for you Mr Black.'

He got detention simply for being the cheeky git he actually is.

I smiled slightly, at least it was someone who I knew, even if it was just acquaintances, we at least acknowledged each others existence and talked every now and then.

I heard the rest of the girls in my year _and _the year below groan in annoyance. Thankfully, the girls in my year were groaning in annoyance _for _me, thinking this was such a shame for me. Whereas the girls in the year below me were probably annoyed _at _me. I mean, if they knew they would get to dance with Sirius Black, they would've jumped at the opportunity.

I stood up and walked down the stands from my place right at the back, ignoring the glares that the other girls sent my way.

Sirius did the same and we were eventually stood in front of each other, though he was a good few inches taller than me.

'The woman places one hand on the man's shoulder, and places the other in his hand. The man's spare hand will be placed on the woman's waist.' McGonagall described and we complied as she spoke out the instructions.

'The man leads.' She stated before she waved her wand to the large record player and the music began.

'One, two, three.' She counted out as Sirius and I glided around the room, all the while I was ignoring the whispers from the other girls.

'I didn't know you could dance, MacNeil.' Sirius stated to me as he probably realised that I hadn't stood on his toes once.

I just laughed lightly, following his guide as he moved me around the room. 'Please. It is about the only girly thing that I can do.'

Which was true, I normally followed Quidditch and football and rugby with Dad. I pretend-fought with my big brothers and my little sister when the Muggle girls around my area were shopping and gossiping. But Dad was always listening to music and ever since I was young, he would place me on his feet and dance me about the room. As I grew, I didn't need to stand on his feet and could follow his lead brilliantly. Even now, whenever our favourite songs came on we would still get up and dance about the room, much to Mum's amusement.

'And you can dance too,' I stated shortly, looking down to his feet that were gliding around the room gracefully. 'How did you learn?'

'No matter how different I am, I'm still a Black, my mother held these stupid balls every year for Christmas as well. She taught us so we wouldn't embarrass her.'

I just hummed in response, I knew he didn't like talking about his family. I had discovered that when I asked him about his letter near Hallowe'en.

'Well done, Mr Black and Miss MacNeil.' McGonagall applauded. 'If you would separate, you obviously do not need any lessons. Would another couple please step up.'

In the end, Lily and James were paired together, much to James' pleasure. Dorcas was paired with Remus and Mary was paired with Peter, and she kept making eye contact with me and rolling her her eyes. Marlene was paired with a Fourth Year boy, who apparently was so nervous that he barely touched her.

Because Sirius and I went first we could sit back and laugh at our friends' attempt to dance and the awkward situations that they got into. Especially when it came to James and Lily, who couldn't flow because one was too busy rejoicing at getting to hold the other one close, who in turn was too busy trying to get out of the embrace.

Two guesses what one was James and what one was Lily.

Eventually, McGonagall decided that we were decent enough to survive the Ball without embarrassing her House and dismissed us.

'Wasn't that fun.' I said with a smirk as I looked pointedly at Lily. We were all getting ready to go to bed. After we returned from our lessons we didn't have much time to talk about it, seeing as we had to sit down and do several essays and homework exercises.

Lily laughed humourlessly, before picking up a pillow and throwing it at me. I giggled exuberantly, dodging the oncoming pillow by diving on to my bed.

'Personally, I think you were a cute couple.' Marlene added, before she too had to dodge a pillow.

'Lily stop, otherwise you'll have no pillows left to sleep on.' I scolded as I threw her pillow back to her.

'Well stop making stupid suggestions. James Potter is an arrogant toerag, I'll _never _consider going with him.'

'Imagine your children though,' I started, holding up a hand to catch the pillow she threw at me, yet again. 'No listen. They'd have your brains, his brains, his ego and your fiery personality. I feel sorry for the teachers here when that child comes along.'

Another pillow was sent my way.

'There will be no children, because I will _never go anywhere near him_!' She growled and the four of us just rolled our eyes.

She'd been spouting that rubbish ever since he first got a crush on her in Fourth Year, but anyone could tell that she liked the attention she got from him. It was like she revelled in their little confrontations as much as he did. I knew eventually she would cave in, but only if he stopped being so big headed and showed her that he can be a normal and decent human being.

Hey, miracles can happen.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Tuesday started out normal, I wrote home asking for money for tomorrow when we went into Hogsmeade to buy our dresses, I sent the fastest owl in the Owlery, Diego, hoping they would send him back in time. Of course they didn't have names, seeing as they weren't pets, but I gave it a name anyway. Where was the harm?

However, as I left the Owlery, with every intent of heading to the library to tie up any loose ends with my homework, I nearly ran into none other than David.

I gave him a small smile. 'Hey.'

'Hey yourself.' He replied, returning my smile. 'Sending a letter?'

'Aye, just sent it home, asking for money for Hogsmeade tomorrow, y'know?'

'Ah, nearly every girl is going to Hogsmeade for a dress for the Ball tomorrow, aren't they? I heard a couple of Ravenclaw girls talking about it in the Common Room.'

I hummed in response. 'I don't see what the big deal is, it's only a dance, but the girls are forcing me to go, so, go I must.'

'Who are you going with?' He asked suddenly. We were still at the top of the stairs that led into the Owlery, it was winter and the steps were covered in snow, but we didn't make any move to step inside.

I didn't answer for a beat, trying to figure out how to handle this.

_I wanted you to ask me, you dolt! _Somehow, I thought that wasn't the best reply.

'So far? No one, I haven't been asked yet.'

'Really?' He seemed shocked by this, I had no idea why, I was hardly Lily or Marlene. The people who were so completely attractive they had the boys of Hogwarts falling head over heels for them.

'Really.' I repeated, just to affirm the fact that, hey, I'm probably going to be going to the Ball on my own.

'Huh.' He cleared his throat. 'Well, um, d'you wannagowime?'

I blinked.

'Excuse me?'

'Do you want to go with me? To the Ball?'

I gave out a shaky breath.

'Of course! I would love to!'

He looked visibly relieved.

'Great. Brilliant.'

I smiled widely, and gave him a wave, before excusing myself to go back to the Common Room. Truthfully, I was _freezing_! I didn't want to leave, if I was honest, but I didn't want to stay out in the cold Scottish winter, in the Owlery.

So, instead I headed back into the main castle, to try and find my friends and tell them the great news, that Kara MacNeil, would not be going to the Christmas Ball alone. She would be accompanied by the fine boy that was David Tanner.

After giving the password (Snargaluff) to the Fat Lady, I practically bounced into the Common Room, right beside the girls who were gathered around the fire. I hopped beside them for a second or two, a wide grin on my lips as I waited for one of them to ask me why I was so happy.

Finally, Mary relented and asked me why I was dancing about.

'David just asked me to the Ball.' I replied in a sing-song voice, as I threw myself on top of her and pulled her into a tight hug.

'Aye, and that will be the reason why you're so bloody happy, I take it?'

'Aye, pretty much!' I replied, giving her another tight squeeze.

'Wait just a clock tick!' Lily exclaimed from the chair beside us. 'What is this about David Tanner asking you to the Ball? And why are you so excited? I thought you said you weren't interested in him?'

'I wasn't. But after you lot told me that you found him attractive, I started watching him from a distance and I started to realise that you were right. Then with the revelation of the Christmas Ball, I decided that if I was going, I wanted to go with him. But I never got up the courage to ask him.' I concluded, then I remembered why I was so happy.

'_But he just asked me a few minutes ago_!' I exclaimed again, before starting to dance once more, even while I was still on Mary's lap.

'Aye, aye. Now, get off my knees!' She declared before shoving me off of her, and I landed on my backside with a sore thump.

'You could've be nicer with the way you shoved me Miss MacDonald.' I admonished, standing up and wiping my backside free of the minuscule amount of dirt and the large amount of pain.

'Well, no wonder. You're not exactly fat, but you're not feather-light either.'

'Oh, how lovely.' I muttered sarcastically, before heading up to the Dorm to get my bag in order to do my homework. The teachers found this Ball as no exception, saying that the homework they set was due in for the Thursday, the day before the Ball. McGonagall even hinted that if her issued essay wasn't returned, then she may even stop that person from going to the Ball, seeing as it was a privilege to be going.

I had honestly thought about not handing in my homework, in order to be excluded from the Ball, because I honestly didn't want to go, I'd rather sit in the Common Room with a book, or my radio - which I had gotten back from Dervish and Banges the next time I returned to Hogsmeade - but the girls wouldn't allow it. They had already guessed that would be my plan, and promised that they would have a back-up essay to hand in on my behalf.

There was no way on Earth I was getting out of this bloody Ball.

The only upside was that I was going with David, it would give me a chance to talk to him, get to know him better, to see if we really were compatible. Sure, I knew he was nice, but the conversations we had were centred around the Ravenclaw inside me, debates about the current climate with Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters running about. What the Ministry should be doing and what we would do when we left and he still hadn't been dealt with. He didn't really know the more predominant side of me, the side that placed me in Gryffindor.

But, that could've been done in a trip to Hogsmeade, there was no need for a _Ball_.

Heaving a sigh, I dragged my bag from my bed and headed back down to the Common Room, ready to do the homework, before we left for supper in half an hour.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I slipped out of bed, yawning wide, before trudging over to the bathroom to get ready, ignoring the girls that were already up and wide awake. I was never a morning person. Never.

The girls knew that, perhaps that was why I got so annoyed when Marlene came bouncing over to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and doing a little dance.

'We're getting dress robes.' She repeated over and over again in a singsong voice.

I shrugged out of her grasp.

'Bugger off, Marly.' I growled, as I said, I was never a morning person.

I stormed straight into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind me, before turning on the shower, hoping it would wake me up.

When I came back out of the bathroom, dripping wet with a towel wrapped around me, I was pretty much wide awake, totally refreshed and ready to apologies to Marlene for snapping at her.

'Sorry Marly,' I started looking at her once with a smile, before walking over to my trunk to get some clothes. After all, other than the towel, I was completely naked. 'But you know I'm not a morning person, and I didn't get to sleep till late last night, so... but I _am _sorry.'

'Again?' She asked, obviously accepting my apology. 'You didn't get to sleep till late last night either? Seriously Kara, is anything wrong?'

'No. Nothing is wrong.'

And I was speaking the truth. It was completely normal for me not to get to sleep until late, simply because my brain never seemed to slow down. I'd always come up with ideas for things to write, or draw, or lyrics for a song. I always needed to be productive, and sleep was never going to be a barrier for that.

It was also normal for me, that if I got to sleep, I would be woken every two to three hours, and would have to move in my position, just to get back to sleep. The only place that I could get to sleep at a decent hour and stay asleep once I was, was at Gran's house. Dad's mother, a Muggle. Hmm, maybe that was it. At Hogwarts there was always a Magic force buzzing in the school, because there were so many Magical people congregating in the one place. And at my Home, there was Mum, Clair, Owen, Craig and I, who were all Magic, and while Owen and Craig no longer lived with us, they still visited every day, along with Corinne and Veronica, who were also Magic.

Maybe the reason I like my Granny MacNeil's house was because it didn't have the Magical buzz. It was calm, relaxing, completely unperturbed by Magic.

_Huh._

'So, nothing is bothering you?' Marlene reaffirmed and I grinned, picking out a pair of jeans and a cosy lilac jumper.

'Really Marly, nothing is bothering me.' I shut my trunk and turned to her. 'But thank you for the concern.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

When we came back from Hogsmeade, with two bags each, we placed them in our rooms before sitting down on our beds, trying to regain our energy. After all, we had just spent two to three hours, pushing and shoving our way through Gladrags, trying to get our dresses for the Ball on Friday.

I groaned loudly, falling back against the bed, and covering my face with my arm.

'All of this for a stupid Ball?' I asked, rubbing my eyes and shoving my bags off of my bed, causing them to fall down and their contents to spill out all over the bag.

Any other person would've been annoyed that the dress that they were planning on wearing on Friday ended up on the floor, but I couldn't have cared less.

I planned on leaving them there, but Dorcas came over, picked them up and placed them beside my bed.

'Thanks Dorcas.' I muttered, despite the fact I didn't really care whether she picked them up or not. But that was Dorcas for you, she was the most honest and nicest person that I knew. She couldn't say a bad word about anyone. Unless that person had done something seriously wrong.

'So, Dorrie, do you have a date yet?' Marlene asked, as Dorcas walked over and sat back down on her bed.

She smiled coyly.

'In fact I do. Someone asked me today, when I left you all to go look for shoes, Connor Duncan came up to me and asked me to go with him, so I said yes.'

Connor Duncan was a Hufflepuff in the year above us, he was the epitome of Hufflepuff; loyal, dedicated, hard working, patient and fair. He had deep brown, innocent eyes and dirty blond hair that hung into his eyes. In all honesty, Dorcas and Connor would honestly make a perfect couple.

'That's great!'

We all offered her our congratulations, smiling widely at her.

Despite the fact I had initially not wanted to go to this Ball, I was honestly looking quite forward to it now.

I just hoped it would be a civilised gathering of friends and getting to know people outside of your House, and not some stupid excuse for people to run amuck.

* * *

**_So, there we go... they're starting getting ready for the Ball. :) _**

**_What did you think about it? Review at let me know!_**

**_AND MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY! :D_**

**_~Charlotte.x_**


	6. Chapter VI

**_And now we have the actual ball! Hope you enjoy this chapter! I had fun writing it!_  
**

**_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, especially "guest" who left me the kindest review I have ever received! I hope to hear from you again!_**

* * *

_~Oh I know the music's fine,  
Like sparkling wine,  
Go and have your fun.  
But while we're apart,  
Don't give your heart to anyone.~_

_The Drifters - Save the Last Dance for Me._

* * *

**Chapter VI.**

I woke up the next morning feeling completely content. I had managed to get to sleep at a reasonable hour, and managed to have a good night sleep.

As I opened my eyes, I realised I was quite looking forward for today. I mean, it was the Christmas Ball after all, and I was feeling like tonight would be exciting, even if at the beginning I wasn't that excited for it.

I turned and noticed that all the girls were up, and probably downstairs in the Common Room.

We weren't getting any classes today, seeing as today was our last day of the first term. After we were finished with the Ball, we just had a sleep left, before we had to be back down at the train station in Hogsmeade to go home for the Christmas break.

However, I couldn't tell you what I was looking forward to most, the Christmas Ball, or getting to go home and have Christmas at Uncle Hamish's.

Deciding to finally get out of my bed, I gave a stretch, before throwing the covers away from me and getting up.

I walked over to the bathroom, pulling out a towel and turning on the shower, before hopping in, relishing in the warm water hitting my body.

When I was finished, I got changed into Muggle clothes, before heading downstairs into the main room of the Common Room.

There I found the girls, sitting on the sofa, apparently waiting on me, for a soon as they saw me, they got up and started heading straight in my direction.  
Without saying anything other than a small "hello", we headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

'Please tell me you are excited for tonight, Kara. Please.' Marlene pleaded and I simply grinned.

'Y'know something? I actually am!' I replied, my eyes unconsciously flitting over to the Ravenclaw table, my eyes meeting with David's momentarily, before I looked away, a smile on my lips.

'Well, we have a few hours before we have to go and get ready, what do you want to do?' Lily asked, and I turned to her with furrowed brows.

What did she mean when she said "only a few hours"? The Ball started at 7 o'clock at _night_. It was only 9 o'clock right now. A few hours meant getting ready at 2 o'clock. I didn't take five hours to get ready.

'"A few hours", Lily?' I questioned, and she simply nodded as if this was obvious.

'I don't take five hours t'get ready!' I clarified, and Mary agreed, for I saw her head nodding from the side of my eye.

'Exactly. Nobody takes five hours t'get ready!'

'But we have hair and makeup to do, and bear in mind, there are five of us. Surely we are all going to help each other do that. So that takes up, what? Three hours maybe. Then there is the getting dressed part of it - which I'll admit doesn't take two hours -' Dorcas added, when she saw me about to protest. '- But we're all going to help the other accessorises, so that is a while, raking through our stuff trying to find the _perfect _jewellery. You'll find that, we will take that long, Kara.'

Although I hated the fact, she was right. There were five of us that were getting ready, and these girls wanted everyone to look perfect. So, of course they were going to take ages to get to that stage.

I sighed, and nodded my head in defeat. 'Fine.'

'Beside,' Marlene started, after giving me a wink. I knew then what the next words out of her mouth were going to be. 'I'm sure David will appreciate the effort.' She finished, proving that my guess was right.

'Don't be so...' I tried to think of the word, then realised there was no better way than - 'You.'

She just laughed, before looking over to the Ravenclaw table, catching David's eye and waving at him.

'I will kill you.' I growled, though, of course there was a smile on my face. No matter how often I said it, I never could. I loved her too much.

'Anyway,' Lily said, pulling our attention back to her. '_What do you want to do_?' She asked again, and the rest of us just looked amongst ourselves.

We all answered at the same time.

'Go and find Ross.' Marlene answered.

'Go and find Benedict.' Mary answered.

'Go back to the Common Room for a talk.' Dorcas answered.

'Read.' I answered.

We all looked amongst ourselves before we burst into giggles. We couldn't arrange anything if our lives depended on it.

'Okay.' Lily breathed, after trying (unsuccessfully) to stop her giggles. 'We'll go and do our separate things. We'll meet back in the dorm at two. Okay?'

We all nodded, before we finished our breakfast and headed our separate ways.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

'Let's get this over and done with.' I grumbled as I walked into the Dorm.

They were all there; Dorcas, Lily, Marlene and Mary. All with the same excited smiles on their faces. Any excitement that I had felt this morning had completely vanished.

I had no idea why, maybe it was because I had secluded myself into a small corner of the Common Room, with no one else there, except some fictional characters that I wasn't happy to be pulled away from.

'Try and act a bit more enthusiastic, Kara.' Marlene said, as she walked over, looped arms with mine, and led me to the chair sitting in the middle of the room.

I really didn't like where this was heading.

'You're first.' She declared, confirming my statement that I really didn't like where this was going.

I was plopped into the Chair of Doom, and they all crowded around me like I was some test subject.

'I'm closing my eyes and drifting into "Kara World".' I stated, as I closed my eyes.

That's what they called it when I drifted into my head.

'Shake me when you're finished.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Truthfully, I actually fell asleep whilst they were working away at my hair. I only woke up when my makeup was being done.

'Ready to see, Kara?' Marlene asked, and I grumbled slightly.

'Fine.' I sighed, and they moved their hands away from my eyes, and placed a mirror in front of me.

I laughed.

'Right, d'you want to place a mirror that _reflects _my face, rather than one that _projects _another face? The joke wasn't funny.' I say, turning to look at them, hoping to see grins on their faces at their prank, but all I saw was confused expressions.

'What?'

'Kara, that _is _your reflection. Trust me. There is no jinx on it. Here,' she moved away from the chair, and took my wand from the desk. 'Cast a spell, and see.'

I took my wand in my hand, cleared my throat before uttering, '_Specialis Revelio_.'

Nothing happened.

Does that mean...?

'Is that me?' I asked softly, reaching up and gently stroking my cheek.

I'm not usually one to sound... full of myself, but I looked _gorgeous._

Those girls could really work magic (pun intended), because I was almost unrecognisable.

The only thing that made me realise that it was in fact _me _was those blue eyes, that were flecked _ever so slightly _with the brown that Father has.

My mousy brown hair had been French plaited round the back of my head, going from the left to the right, where it gathered down the side of my neck, the hair hanging in its natural loose curls.

I had a light touch of foundation, and there was a light brown dusting of eyeshadow on my eyelid, bringing out my eyes, which were surrounded by thick, black eyelashes, that I was sure didn't belong to me. My cheeks also had a light touch of pink to them, though whether that was blush or me, I didn't know.

My lips had a light pink sheen to them, and looked as plump as they normally did, though they did look more... inviting than what they normally did. I usually left them uncared for because I was so often outside with the animals with Dad.

'Umm... wow.' I breathed, my hand still not moving from my face.

It was then I realised that my nails were done up, too, being painted a rich brown.

'You look amazin'.' Mary said, and I turned to her to smile widely.

'Thank you. All of you. You're amazing.' I said, turning to look at them all once, before turning to the mirror again, unable to keep my eyes away from it.

'Don't start crying. You'll ruin our masterpiece.' Lily said, before she ushered me out of the seat, and through to the bathroom, where my dress was already hanging up, along with the others.

As I looked back, I noticed that Mary had replaced me in the seat.

A part of me wanted to help, but a more predominant part of me realised that she should come out as amazing as I had, so, with that in mind, I decided to leave her in Dorcas, Lily and Marlene's capable hands.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

When everyone's hair and make up was done, we started to get dressed. I decided to wait and watch the other girls work on each other, hoping to learn something. They did it with very little magic and potions, doing everything the Muggle way. Which I found amazing.

Unfortunately, I learned nothing. Whenever I saw something that I liked, I asked them how to do it, and they moment they opened their mouths, I knew I was screwed. So I just told them to stop, and continue on with the girl they were working on.

So, when we were all ready, we moved our dresses from the bathroom and slipped on our dresses, before we sorted through our trunks, placing every form of jewellery onto Dorcas' bed, and selecting the things we wanted to wear; the things that would go with our dress.

In the end, Marlene ended up with her blonde hair curled, and left down. Her eyes were highlighted with a pale yellow eyeshadow, and her lipstick was a very, very pale pink, that made it look like she was barely wearing anything. Her dress was a pale yellow dress made from chiffon, that flowed with every movement that she made. The neckline was decorated with gorgeous white beads, that came down to between her breasts, and wrapped around her neck. She decided to decorate it with some silver shoes that I had - thankfully she had the same size of feet as me - and a pair of silver earrings from Lily. She decided to leave her wrists bare. She looked a brilliant as she did when she dressed up as an angel for Hallowe'en.

Dorcas wore a dress, where the bodice part of it was black, which evolved into a jewelled waist band, which had diamonds and light blue stones. The skirt was pale blue and flared out beautifully. Her black hair was pulled into a bun, and the pins that Mary used for her Hallowe'en costume was pinned into it. She used her own pair of silver shoes, and decided not to wear any jewellery, thinking the jewels on the dress was enough for her. The only makeup she wore was a small line of eyeliner and a layer of mascara. She looked breathtaking as well.

Lily had a cream dress, that was cut slightly below her collarbones, and draped down to the floor. On top of that, she wore a small shawl-type-thing, that was tied together by a strip of green fabric. This brought out her green eyes that were surrounded by brown eyeshadow. She wore a pair of green shoes that Mary gave her, that matched the colour of sash, and also a clutch bag. She wore a pair of silver earring studs, and a dangling matching necklace and bracelet. Her auburn hair was styled in a half-up, half-down do, and any pieces that were down, were curled very loosely.

Mary went bold and sultry, with a black smokey eyeshadow, and her black hair was left straight, but with added volume than usual. Her dress was a beautiful red, that had diamonds on the first half of the top, then after a pause, on the second half of the top. It then flared out in large pleats, that reached the ground. She wore a necklace that her father gave to her before he died, as well as a bracelet from me. It was the only piece of jewellery I possessed, and truthfully, I was glad that Mary was the one to take it.

My dress was brown, and made of a fine silk. It flowed down to my feet and flared out just slightly. Around my waist was a lighter brown sash, that held three flowers. This sash was tied at my back, before it flowed down, being just that _bit _longer than the actual dress. I tied it off with a pearl necklace from Lily, that she entrusted me with. It was given to her by her gandmother before she died, so I felt entirely nervous wearing it. But knowing she trusted me with it, made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

We all looked at each other, entirely amazed at how we looked.

'Shall we go?' I asked, and they all nodded.

With a smile, we headed down from our Dorm and into the Common Room. The Third Years and below all looked at us in apparent admiration, and looked like they wished they were going.

My excitement seemed to be coming in bouts, one minute - like this morning - I would be entirely looking forward to it, then the next minute - like before I went up to get ready - I was dreading it. Right now, I was elated to be going.

Yet, when I realised that David was outside that Portrait Hole, waiting for me, my knees felt like they were going to buckle, and I had to clutch on to the banister as I came down the stairs.

'Are you all right?' Dorcas asked, as she walked beside me, and I only nodded.

I feared if I opened my mouth, something horrible would come it.

When I was flat on my feet, I suddenly felt like I was going to collapse, and even staggered a little as I took a step forward. Dorcas caught me before I tripped over my heels, and gave me a completely concerned expression.

'I'm fine. Just a bit nervous, 'tis all.' I answered my friend's questioning expression, before I straightened myself and leaned off of her.

'Honestly.'

'If you are sure. If you don't feel well, come and see me, okay? No matter what I'm doing. I'll come and sit with you.' She smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back, immediately feeling that bit better.

'I will, Dorrie. Trust me. I think I'm just nervous about going to this thing with David, that's all.'

Her reassuring smile turned into a sympathetic one, and I tried to give her a reassuring one in return, but I have a feeling it didn't turn out that convincingly.

However, I realised that this was something I had to do. I didn't get totally dolled up, for me to turn around and hide in my room. Be that as it may, it occurred to me as I walked towards the Portrait Hole that I wasn't ready for this. To be going on a... could this be called a date? I guess it could.

Anyway, it didn't matter, I wasn't ready to be going on a date with someone. I was fifteen years old! I had a life that could be dedicated to this, but my Fifth Year was important. I didn't want to ruin it because I was distracted by... boys!

Maybe next year, even though that was the start of my NEWTs. I'd have that bit more time, and a better chance of juggling my studies and a boyfriend.

The Hole opened, and I was greeted by David's smiling face.

I'd have to tell him. I'd take him aside when the Ball was finishing, and tell him that. Maybe he didn't want to start a relationship with me, maybe I was just his last resort, but no matter, I needed to make it clear before I let it go any further.

'Kara,' he greeted, leaning over to give me a kiss on my cheek.

_Hmm... maybe it was romantic._

'David.' I replied, kissing his cheek as he kissed mine.

Sure, I liked him, but I was going to like my future more.

'Shall we?'

I grinned. 'We shall.'

He offered me his arm and I took it, and we started walking down to the Great Hall.

I was eager to see how much it had been transformed. It would be odd to see the Hall without the four long tables, and the four hour glasses that represent each House's points.

I was careful when I walked down the stairs, not wanting to trip over my heels - I wasn't exactly used to them - and just to make extra sure, my free hand held up my dress, somewhat helpfully.

When we reached the Great Hall, the first thing I did was look around myself.

Was the Hall always this big?

Gone were the tables, yet the hour glasses were still there, much to my surprise. There was silver streamers, hung delicately around the room. Several small round tables littered the room, giving way to a large dance floor.

An orchestra sized band stood at the front, where the teacher's table normally was, and I noticed the teachers had their own little round table.

The place was magic.

The enchanted ceiling was dark, like the night sky, yet the moon gave every cloud the perfect silver lining.

Once I remembered that I could tear my eyes away from it, the second thing I did was look for my sister.

Before I sat down in the Common Room to read, I had went to Ravenclaw's to find Clair, and ask her if she wanted to join us in the makeover part of it.

She declined, saying she would manage by herself. I wanted to see how she looked.

'Did you see Clair leave?' I asked David. They did share a common room after all.

'Clair? Yeah, she left a few minutes before I did, with that Dillon Welsh. She should be here.' He answered and I nodded.

I continued to scan the room, before my eyes fell on them.

I forgot about David who was at my side, and walked over to her, vaguely aware that David realised I was missing, before following me.

'Clair, you look... marvellous.' I breathed as I approached her.

And it was true. She had her long blonde hair straight like she normally wore it, only there was something weaved through it, something silvery that made it glow when she moved. She - like me - wore minimum makeup, only some silver eyeshadow on her eyelid, and some mascara and natural colour lipstick. Her dress was gorgeous, it was a blue dress, that started off as a darkish blue, before fading into an almost white blue. The neckline was like Marlene's, only with diamonds. There was also this chiffon overlay split, which - after asking her to twirl for me - gave her the appearance of wings.

'Thank you.' She replied, once she stopped twirling. 'So do you.'

I titled my head as I smiled in reply.

'Thanks.' I muttered, and felt someone slide their hand around my waist.

My jaw locked.

Fifteen years old! What was the rush?

'She does, doesn't she?' David agreed, and I tried to act comfortable in his embrace.

But when I met Clair's eyes, her hands flitted down to his hand on my waist, before looking back up to meet my eyes, a small, understanding smile on her lips.

I rolled my eyes very discreetly as Dillon and David chatted away.

Her eyes sparkled, as she tried not to laugh aloud.

'D'you want to dance?' I asked, needing a distraction from the voice in my head that constantly shouted: _Run away, run away now._

'Sure.' He replied, before he led me to the already swamped dance floor.

He held me the same way Sirius had in the lessons, but there was one difference. David didn't know how to lead.

So, in the end, we decided to sway from side to side, and I hoped that someone who was good at dancing would come and cut in.

That may have sounded rude, and awful, but I loved to dance. I loved it with a passion. When my Father and I weren't discussing and helping animals, or watching and playing sports, we were listening to music and dancing.

However, the song ended and I hinted to him that I wanted to sit down, so we did.

We found the girls with their dates at a table near the side of the dance floor.

I pulled up a seat and sat down, looking over to Dorcas with reassuring eyes.

I'd have to pull her aside and talk to her. Ask for her advice on this whole thing.

Which I did.

'I'm going for a refreshment. Dorcas?' I said, standing from my seat.

'I'll go for it.' David said, also standing.

Instantly, I saw red.

'I'm capable of getting my own drink.' I snapped, before walking to the table where the food and drink lay.

I despised being mollycoddled; I was perfectly capable of getting things on my own. I didn't need someone running after me hand a foot, as if I was someway incompetent.

I was vaguely aware of Dorcas excusing herself from Connor, before following me over to the table.

'Is everything all right?' Dorrie asked, and I heaved a sigh as I poured some pumpkin juice.

'No?' I replied, but it came out as a question.

Was I asking her if she thought I was all right?

'I don't think it is, Kara,' she answered, as she stepped from behind me, and came into my side-view.

'No, no it's not.'

I turned and gave her a look.

'Bathrooms?'

I nodded, and she smiled sympathetically, before turning and leading me to the bathroom.

We made sure that it was completely empty, before I turned and leaned against the sinks.

'Why is everyone in such a rush to grow up?' I asked, as I stared down to my cup.

'What do you mean?'

'As I was walking down from the Dorm, I realised that David would be waiting for me outside of the Common Room, and I dunno... it just hit me that, I'm in my 5th year. I'm sitting my OWLs this year. They will decide what NEWTs I take, which in turn decides what career I have. And I just thought, "why am I doing this?". Y'know?'

I looked up briefly, knowing she was silent until I got it all out.

I looked back down to my cup.

'I just don't see why we have become so obsessed with boys. When we reached 4th year, everything seemed to change. It seems were more inclined to discuss who we fancy than anything else.'

I sighed, it was good to get this out. And even better that it was Dorcas that was listening to me. The other girls were the ones more inclined to talk about boys. Dorcas and I always sat back and let them get into it. We only really chipped in when we _actually _had someone to talk about. Which, from my memory, was only twice. Between us!

'I mean, I like David, don't get me wrong, I like him. But, this is the year that technically decides my future, and I'm going to like that a _hell of a lot more _that a boy I went out with when I was fifteen!'

I looked up, looking into her deep brown eyes.

'I just walked down those stairs and realised I don't want anything to do with boys this year. And then I thought, but I still have to go through tonight... help me Dorrie.' I whined, and she walked over to me and embraced me.

'We go back, you take David aside and tell him. Say that you still want to spend time with him tonight, but after that, you really need to focus on your studies, and can't have any distractions. No matter what the cost is. Tell him you really like him, as well, it'll sweeten the blow a bit. But make it known that you still want to have tonight.'

'Thanks, Dorrie.' I whispered, hugging her tighter.

'Now, let's get back. We're missing this Ball. We won't have it again until 7th year.'

I smiled, and nodded my head, agreeing with her.

'Right.' I took a deep breath, and cracked a smile. 'Let's go.'

The walk from the bathroom was short and quiet, but after the ranting I did, it was understandable.

When we reached the Great Hall again, we walked back over to the table, and Dorcas apologised to Connor, who was quick to forgive.

David was no where to be seen, so I turned back to the girls.

'Where is he?' I asked. They didn't seem to be concerned or worried, so I guessed he just slipped away.

'He said he was gonna go and see his pals.' Mary answered, and I nodded.

I scanned the room, and found him and a group of Ravenclaws standing by the never-ending buffet table. I found that strange, Lily was with his best friend, Dylan. Maybe he just didn't want to be near _my _friends.

I cleared my throat, and squared my shoulders, before I walked over to him.

'David? Can I talk to you?' I asked, eyeing each of his friend's once, before landing my eyes on him.

He looked a little surprised, but nodded his head and agreed.

I took him outside of the Hall, to an empty corridor, hoping we would not be disturbed.

'I am sorry about before.' I opened, once we stopped and he turned to face me. 'I just, well, I'm independent, I guess. When someone offers me something, I very rarely accept, because well, I believe it's a sign of weakness. I need to get things for myself; I need to do things for myself. I know you were just being a gentleman offering to get me a drink, but my mind didn't seem to realise that; I guess I'm a bit hot-headed too.'

_A bit? Yeah, that's an understatement._

'I like you David, I really do.'

'But?' He pressed, and I smiled. 'I know there is a but coming.'

'But, although I like you, I want to focus on my studies. I want to be a Magizoologist when I leave here, or work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in the Ministry of Magic, and I can't do that if I don't get good grades. This year is important, more important than 7th Year, because this year _dictates what I take in 6th and 7th year_! Do you understand?'

'I do. I know exactly what you mean, just... bad timing, eh?'

'Exactly. But...' I was going to be bold here. I was going to let to Gryffindor inside come out. 'There is always next year.'

His reaction was to grin and nod his head.

'There is always next year. And tonight.'

'Aye, and tonight. Which we are missing. Shall we?' I asked, making that reference to earlier on.

'We shall.'

He took my hand, before leading me back to the Hall, and leading me to the dance floor. Where - once again - we swayed from side to side. If we did go out next year, I'd have to teach him how to dance.

But for now, I was content with this.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

After a couple of songs, he decided to go and find his friends. After all, he did just leave them without saying anything, not to mention, he probably wanted to find out how their night was going. At least, I would've if it were my friends.

Did boys do that? Talk about how a date was going?

I didn't know.

The only guide I had to go on was Craig and Owen, and they were my brothers. They talked to me about Corinne and Veronica because I was family; because I liked them and knew them.

But did they talk about it to their friends?

Merlin only knew.

I walked from the dance floor, and realised there was no one for me to talk to.

All my friends were occupied with their dates, either dancing, or in Marlene's case, sitting in the corner snogging.

I shook my head as I laughed, before I noticed him.

He was sitting on a seat, all by himself, looking sick fed up with something; like he didn't want to be here.

Cautiously, I walked over to him, and stood there.

'Can I join you?'

Sirius' eyes seemed to refocus, before he nodded his head and signalled to the empty seat.

'Sure.'

I was surprised that there was no one from the Fan Club surrounding him. Especially with the way he looked. Any fool could notice it. Whether you were going to crazy over it was another thing.

As I said before, there is more to love than pretty looks. And Sirius, whilst maybe was a nice person underneath, didn't let it show often.

I had noticed that when he went out with Tiana Blackford, she was an... acquaintance... of mine? I guess that would be the right way to describe it. She was in Ravenclaw, and I talked to her a couple of times I visited Clair.

He never seemed to open up to her. She just seemed to be there, acting as a girlfriend. Or more appropriately, acting as a pretty thing hanging off his arm.

It was like he was afraid to be vulnerable, to open up to someone. And I knew he could, because he could do that with James, and the others.

Maybe he never felt close to those girls, but then, why go out with them for that long a time? Tiana and him lasted six months, but why do that if you got no where with them. If he just treated you like an object, instead of someone to love.

Mind you, I didn't know Tiana well enough for her to tell me the ins and outs of their relationship. So maybe in private he treated her differently.

_Why the hell d'you care? _I thought, and I realised I didn't.

So why the hell was I sitting here thinking about it?

_Cause you're an over-analysing weirdo, that's why._

I needed to have my head looked at. There was something wrong with me. Analysing the relationship of a boy I barely knew, and didn't feel anything for.

The only thing we could call each other would be acquaintances as well.

I took a sip of my drink that I had got before I came over here, and asked, 'Where's your date?'

I thought this would be conversational, and a good place to start.

'I don't know.' He said, and I turned and raised my eyebrows at him.

He didn't know? How was that possible?

'And do you care that you don't know?' I asked, taking another sip from my cup.

'No.' He answered shortly, and I chuckled at that.

I saw the corner of his mouth twitch, and his lips pulled into a small smile.

'So, why did you come to this thing with a girl you don't care about? I mean, it's you, you could have nearly every girl in the school, why chose someone who's company you didn't enjoy.'

'There isn't a lot of girls here who's company I do enjoy.' He replied. 'And what do you mean by "nearly every girl in the school"?'

'That is probably because you don't know half of them.' I answered. 'And what I mean is, I know a few girls who don't fall for _just _the pretty looks.'

'Most girls don't _try _to get to know me. They just see the pretty looks.' He responded, and I could tell from his eyes that he thought he had let too much information slip.

I didn't care though, like I told him before, I was a listener. Who was I going to talk to about this conversation? I probably wouldn't even tell Mary about it.

I'd probably tell Clair, but she was my sister, who, like me, very rarely took part in gossiping.

'Anyway, you have a cheek to talk, where is your date?' He asked, obviously deciding to turn the conversation back to a lighter tone.

I grinned in reply. 'All right, I deserved that. He's over there,' I nodded with my finger. 'Talking to his friends.'

'So he ditched you for his friends?' He asked, and I felt my grin widen.

'I guess you could say that. Aye.'

Even though it wasn't necessarily true.

'Why didn't you do that? You always seem like the person, that if they were going to ditch a girl, it would be for his best friends.'

He chuckled at that.

'I would've, but they are otherwise occupied.' He grinned, as he nodded to the dance floor.

I grinned when I realised what he meant.

James was dancing with Katie Ford, a Hufflepuff in the year above us, but his eyes were plastered on Lily, who was dancing with Dylan, completely ignoring James as usual.

Remus was dancing rather awkwardly with Dione Palme, another Hufflepuff, in our year.

And Peter was over at the large buffet table, stuffing his face.

'Peter looks like he could be interrupted.' I said, but the look on his face was completely priceless that I burst out laughing.

He eventually joined in, and we stayed like that for a couple of minutes, before we were out of breath and eventually had to stop.

'It looks like you're in the same situation.' He said, after we stopped our laughing fit.

I grinned and nodded my head, as my eyes flitted over my friends. Marlene sitting in the corner snogging the face off of Ross. Dorcas, Lily and Mary were all dancing with their dates as well.

'It's nice that they've all got someone, they look like they're having fun.' I stated, and my eyes flitted over to David, who was still with his friends. 'Mind you, David is nice, too.'

'Just "nice"?' He questioned, and I shrugged my shoulders.

He didn't need to know what I thought of him.

'I take it his hair doesn't do it for you?' He asked, and for a moment I was confused, before I remembered why he was saying that.

It was a reference to that History of Magic class, when the girls and I were talking about Murray Wilson. When I said that it was his hair that made me fancy him. I didn't know they were listening at that point.

'I guess you could say that.' I giggled, and I realised it was true. It wasn't that his hair wasn't nice, it was just, it wasn't how I liked it.

He joined in with my laughing, but it was eventually cut short when David came over and cleared his throat.

'Care for another dance?' He asked, and I nodded, though my mind kept telling me that it wasn't dancing, it was swaying.

'See you later, Sirius.' I said, as I placed my hand in David's outstretched one.

'Yeah, bye.' He replied, and I gave him a wide smile, before David led me back to the dance floor.

David held me, and we started to sway back and forth, and he looked back at Sirius once, before looking at me.

'What were you talking about?'

I shrugged. 'Just some stuff.' I answered, brushing it off as nothing important.

David decided to let it lie, and slowly started to rotate us.

When he turned us, my eyes connected with Sirius' and he grinned at me.

I couldn't stop smiling back, and it was then I realised, that maybe, _just maybe _those boys weren't as ignorant as Lily and everyone else made them out to be.

* * *

**_Hope you liked this chapter! What did you think about it? Let me know in a review! I love to hear from you!_**

**_And if you haven't noticed, all of the chapters have a song quote at the beginning. I'm doing this with all the chapter from now on. I've done it with the previous ones as well. They are just giving some depth to the chapter. You could even give the song a listen as you read it - that's why I've listed the artist and the song. :D_**

**_Oh, and once again, I've got a Facebook page, like that for character faces, information and sneak peeks in the future! :)_**

**_~Charlotte.x_**


	7. Chapter VII

_**I have chapter seven for you today! Hope you enjoy it!**__  
_

_**And thank you all so much for the reviews! Especially you guest reviewers who I can't respond to! :)**_

* * *

_~I had a dream when I was young,_  
_A dream of sweet illusion,  
With a glimpse of hope and unity,  
And visions of one sweet union.~_

_Queen - One Vision._

* * *

**Chapter VII.**

The girls and I were among the last to leave the Ball.

David and I had enjoyed ourselves immensely, though I was still reeling over that conversation I had with Sirius.

The fact he remembered what I said about Murray and his hair, and used it in reference to David made me chuckle every time I thought about it.

Though I said I liked David, and wanted to continue whatever we had next year - that was if we still liked each other - it was hilarious to think that his hair was putting me off.

I liked longer hair on boys, if I was honest. Though I had never done _any _sort of physical act with a boy, I was always under the impression that longer hair would give you something to grab on to. No matter what it was they were doing to you.

Hey, I maybe didn't do it, but I read books! I had read many of Mum's romance novels; she often sent me them when I was out of books. Of course, it usually was a last resort, when Dad couldn't get any crime or science-fiction or adventure or historical ones. Romance, whilst usually included in these genres in _very small amounts, _wasn't my favourite type of books to read.

And speaking of books, I was glad it was only the Christmas holidays right now. I had a stack of twenty-odd books that I'd have to fit into my trunk at the end of the year. But for now, because it was only Christmas, I could leave most of my possessions here, and only take what I needed home.

One of the many benefits of Christmas holiday.

Some people stayed at Hogwarts during Christmas, but I could never do that. The only holidays I got to spend with my family were Christmas, Easter and Summer, and I wasn't about to give any of them up to stay in a castle by myself.

The other girls felt the same way, but we had a deal that even though we lived far away from each other, we would write and keep everyone updated. We also had a deal that one day in each holiday we would meet up and have a little catch up, before we went back to Hogwarts.

It was always harder for me during these years though, when I went to Scotland to visit Father's brother, Hamish.

I always considered it pointless; coming down from Scotland to England on a train, only to drive back up to Scotland! But that was the way we did it, and I wasn't about to change it.

We usually left after the first couple of days of the holidays; we got about three weeks off for Christmas. The holidays started on the 17th of December, and we didn't return until the 4th. So, I had a feeling we would be leaving for Uncle Hamish's house on the 22nd.

That was good, that would give Veronica and I a couple of days to go looking at dresses for her wedding.

I had been writing to her over the course of the term, discussing when we would do it. She said they weren't getting married until next year, so I could be very active in the planning of it.

She agreed that she wanted to get her wedding dress first, and if we saw something that Clair and I looked nice in, we'd get that as well.

She didn't want Clair and I wearing the same dressed however, they just had to be the same colour - purple.

'Kara, you ready to go?'

I was pulled from my thoughts with Lily asking this question, and after picking up my wand from my bed-side drawer, I nodded.

'Of course.' I stuffed my wand into my pony-tail, it always provided a great holding place for it.

I'd put it down the side of my jeans, but when you sat down, it stuck into your side and was _not _comfortable.

I picked up the small bag I was taking home with me, as well as Caledonia's cage, and followed them down into Common Room.

For the Christmas and Easter holidays, we were allowed to go home and return in Muggle clothes. We were allowed to go home in them with the Summer ones, but of course, we had to return with them on. Mainly because we had to look smart at the Welcoming Feast.

'You're going to your Uncle Hamish's this time, aren't you?' Marlene asked as we boarded the train and started looking for a compartment.

'Eh, aye. So try and keep the letter to a minimum. You know he doesn't know about us. So having an owl show up at his window would probably freak him out.'

'We'll remember that. Only if it is really important will we send you an owl, how about that?'

'Aye, that sounds fine.' I agreed, opening the door to an empty compartment and filing in over to the window.

I liked sitting at the window, it was fun watching the countryside just fly by. Watching all the colours blur together, it was magical.

'What're you doing for Christmas, then?' I asked as the rest of us sat down, and I let Donnie out of his cage. He flopped onto my lap and curled into ball, quickly falling asleep, purring.

My hands started to automatically clap him as the other girls answered.

'Well, I'm just having a normal Christmas, we're just staying at home, my parents, Petunia and I.' Lily answered and I smiled. I guessed as much, and I was pretty sure that the others were doing that as well.

The other girls nodded, agreeing with my unsaid assumption.

'What about New Years, what're you doing for that?' Lily asked everyone, and I shrugged.

'We only spend Christmas with Uncle Hamish, so New Years will probably be spent at home. What about you Mary?'

'Probably the same.'

'Yeah, we're doing that as well.' Added Dorcas, and when we turned to Marlene we saw her grinning, just like the cat that caught the canary.

'What is it Marly?' I asked, narrowing my eyes as I tried to figure out what she was planning.

Her grin simply widened, and she shook her head once, her blonde hair flaring out around her.

'You'll see eventually.' She answered in a sing-song voice, and suddenly we were overcome with curiosity.

'Marlene, _tell us_.' Lily demanded, as we all shuffled closer to her.

Maybe if she realised the distance between us wasn't that big, she'd be more inclined to tell.

'Honestly, you'll find out soon enough.'

'But it's us, Marlene!' Dorcas added, as she tapped her feet, showing her impatience. 'You _have _to tell us.'

'I'm not saying a word.' Marlene stated, in that same sing-song voice and we knew then it was a lost cause.

'Fine. But know that we aren't happy with this.' I said, leaning back in my seat, and crossing my arms over my chest. Just to show how true my statement was.

'Duly noted.' She said, and it was obvious the petted act wasn't going to work.

She wasn't going to give in.

'So, have you got a name for the Dalmatian pup your father rescued during the Summer holidays?' Dorcas asked, taking everyone's mind off of Marlene's secret.

'Well Dad promised not to give him a name until I got back, because he's going to be mine, you see.' I answered, thinking of the conversations we had through our letters, talking about the cute little thing.

He was keeping me updated with its progress, telling me how much it was growing. It was after the third update letter that he asked me if I would like to have him. Though I still lived in the same house, I was going to be leaving at the end of 7th year, so when I moved out, that meant the puppy went with me, instead of staying with Mum and Dad.

'So, over this term I've been thinking... and, I'm going to call him Benjy.'

They all "aww'd" at that name, and I couldn't stop the stupid grin that was now plastered on my face.

'Benjy, that is so cute.' Lily gushed and I smiled.

'I thought so. I thought it would suit him. Did I show you the photo of him? My father sent it.'

'No, you didn't.'

I grabbed the small bag and started to dig around inside it. When my finger enclosed around the photograph I pulled it out and handed it to Lily, who was the closest to me.

She cooed at it again, before handing it over to Dorcas. Eventually it was passed around the full circle, with each of them offering their compliments to the little puppy.

'Right, so what happened between you and David at the Ball?' Marlene asked as I put the photo back into my bag.

With a roll of my eyes and a deep sigh, I decided there was no way to ignore it. So, with that in mind, I shut the compartment door, pulled the curtains shut, and told them everything.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I had regaled what happened between David and I at the Ball by the time we arrived at King Cross Station.

I scooped Donnie off of my lap, and placed him back into his cage. He wasn't happy with this, and after giving me a glare just to show his annoyance, he grudgingly lay back down on his blanket and fell asleep again.

'Remember, the letters to a minimum.' I said as I sat my bag, and Donnie's cage on the ground in order to give each of them a hug goodbye.

'We remember.' Lily said as we embraced.

When I had finished saying my goodbyes to the girls, I slipped my bag over my shoulder and picked Donnie's cage up again. I stood still, however, and looked around myself, trying to find my sister.

'Kara!'

I knew that was her voice, so I turned and gave her a smile.

'Ready to find Ma' and Dad?' I asked, and she nodded her head once.

'Aye.' She replied, and she picked up Scotia again. I felt sorry for her, I only had a cat cage to carry about, whereas she had to carry about a cage big enough to fit a barn owl in it.

Well, she would want an owl instead of a cat.

I actually couldn't decide when Mum asked me what animal I wanted; an owl, a cat or a toad.

I immediately rolled out the toad, I don't know what it was, there was just something freaky about those things.

But to decide between a cat or an owl? That was near impossible. We were in the Magical Menagerie for about an hour whilst I went back and forth between the various animals.

The only reason I finally decided on a cat was because I saw Caledonia. He came sprinting out from the back room, and underneath a table. The owner tried to coax him out but he wouldn't budge. Yet, when I tried it, he came out and started purring away as I scratched behind his ear. It was in that moment I fell in love with him. So, I decided on a cat, all because of him.

It's amazing to think that was simply five years ago.

It took me another week after that to think of a name for him. I decided on Caledonia, mainly because it was the Latin name the Romans gave to Scotland. It came to me when I started thinking about going to Hogwarts, and how I was glad that it was somewhere in Scotland. So, it just came about and seemed to fit him.

Though, it does get shortened to Donnie most of the time.

'There you are, what took you so long?' Mother's voice asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

'I was saying goodbye to the girls.' I replied, and Clair nodded.

'Same.'

'Yes, well, you're father is outside the barrier, along with your brothers. So, c'mon.'

Clair and I turned to each other and grinned. Mum was always paranoid about leaving Dad alone with our brothers to come and get us. She was always afraid that Craig and Owen would do something with their magic, just to show Dad what they could do.

That never happened before, but call Mum paranoid, eh?

The only time I can remember _something _like that was when we were all at Uncle Hamish's for Christmas again. Owen was six, Craig was three, I was one and Clair was only a few months old. So, obviously Owen, Craig and I were all showing signs of magic. We knew from an early age that Mum was and Dad wasn't, so we were constantly trying to show how _cool _it was to Dad.

At that time we didn't know it was something _born _into you, but something you learned. So we thought Dad had chosen not to learn, and we wanted him to change his mind.

So, what happened at Uncle Hamish's was, we were all gathered outside; our family, Uncle Hamish and his wife, and two children, and we started doing just that - trying to convince Dad to learn magic.

Needless to say, Mum had to _Obliviate _everyone's memory. We didn't go back to Uncle Hamish's until we were all old enough to understand not to do it in front of Dad's family.

'Right, on you go, Kara.' Mum said, signalling to the brick wall in front of me.

Taking a deep breath, and holding Donnie's cage tighter - just incase - I ran through the wall.

'There's my little pumpkin, how was your first term?' My father greeted me, and I smiled in return, reaching up and giving him a large hug.

'Excellent, really fun. As it usually is.' I answered once I released him. 'OWLs are bloody stressing though.'

'OWLs?' He asked, and I giggled.

Of course he didn't know what OWLs were.

'Ordinary Wizarding Level examination. Kind of like O Levels in Scotland, y'know? In fact, I guess it is just the same thing, except with magic.'

He nodded his head in understanding. My father wasn't stupid (I was sure that if he were magic, he too would've ended up in Ravenclaw), even though he didn't know much about the Magical World, whenever you explained it to him, he understood.

Like I said before, he managed to learn the rules of Quidditch because we compared it to football.

'Well, if that's the case, you'll be brilliant.'

My father, even though he was from Scotland didn't speak with that strong a Scottish accent. Don't get me wrong, if you heard him, you'd have no doubt he was Scottish, but he was completely different from Mary. When she spoke, if you weren't used to it, you'd have trouble understanding what she was saying. Whereas with Dad and the rest of us - except Mum, of course - it was only the accent that gave us away.

I guess it was just what part you came from, Dad hailed from a little town outside Glasgow, where we stayed until I was ten. We moved down to England to make it easier for me to get to Hogwarts. Mum used to Apparate Craig and Owen to the station, but she realised she couldn't when I was old enough to go. Two people she could manage in Side-Along-Apparation, but three she could not. We would've moved to Hogsmeade, but because of Dad, we couldn't. So instead, we moved near King Cross Station, so it was easy for Dad to come along with us; to see us off.

'How's the little pup doing?' I asked, as we started walking from the platform and started heading for the car.

'He's doing fine, but he needs a name, pumpkin, any more of it, he'll think his name is "Boy".' He chuckled, and I joined in.

'Well, thankfully, I've thought of a name.'

'Aye? What is it?'

'Benjy!'

'Benjy,' he said, in order to let him see how well that rolled of his tongue. 'Benjy. I like that name.'

'Besides, it goes... Benjy and Donnie! They're bound to get on.' I stated, as we reached the car.

I lifted my bag up off the ground, and placed it in the boot of the car.

Dad then got in the driver's seat, and Mum let Clair, Owen, Craig and I into the backseats, before she climbed in the passenger seat.

We would've been squished, but we weren't. It was then I realised that Mum must've placed an Undetectable Extension Charm on the seats, making them bigger than they should be, but no one would know looking at it.

'Oh, Owen... congratulations on your engagement. I know I said it in a letter, but I felt I should say it in person as well.'

'Thanks, Kara, and can I just say, thank Merlin you are back! I didn't know this wedding planning business would be so bloody exhausting. I'm glad your here, that means she'll be talking to you instead.'

'Not even married yet and you're already thinking of the separate bedrooms.' I joked, and after playfully smacking the back of my head, he started laughing as well.

'I want to deal with _marriage _side of it, not the _wedding _side of it, get it?'

I nodded. 'I do. Just don't let Veronica hear you say that though.'

After that, the topic of his wedding was all we talked about until we got home.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I came back down from my room, after rushing up there to dump my bag, and the Donnie out of his cage. He curled up on my bed and fell asleep.

'Lazy git.' I muttered, before I gave his back one stroke, and then left my room. Leaving the door open, just incase he decided he wanted to go out.

I then ran back down the stairs, eager to get to the kitchen, where Benjy had been locked by when Mum and Dad went away.

Veronica and Corinne had stayed at home, but they didn't know how to deal with an overactive puppy, so that's why he was confined to the kitchen.

I opened the door, and all I saw was a blur of white and black, before something tackled me and I landed on my backside.

'Jesus, boy. Down!'

I pushed him off of me, before sitting up and looking at him.

He was sitting down beside me, waiting with his tail wagging furiously.

He was just too cute that I made the mistake of exclaiming "Benjy!".

He hurled himself at me again, and I landed on my back. Again.

Benjy started to try and lick my face, and that's when I decided I'd had enough.

'Wanna go out boy? Aye? C'mon, let's go outside.'

He dove straight for the door, and ran outside, before he started doing circuits of the garden.

'So, how is the traitor of the family?' Craig asked, pulling me from the hilarious dog.

I turned around with a smirk, and answered. 'Brilliant. Everyone thinks I'm brave and _everything_! It's much better than being the brainy one. Though, I still can answer every question the Knocker asks me, so...'

'I have no idea what that is, but I'll take it as a good thing.' Dad said, and I just smiled.

There was somethings that he didn't need to care about, and the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room was one of those things.

'Who did you go to the Ball with?' Mum asked, and I winced as every single male in the room turned to me, their faces closed off.

They were in their bloody protective stances.

Bloody men!

'I...' I coughed, clearing my throat. 'David Tanner. He's a Ravenclaw in my year.' I answered hesitantly.

They seemed to visibly relax.

'Good, I wouldn't want you going out with a Gryffindor. That'd be too treacherous.'

'Excuse me! But Clair did!' I exclaimed, putting the spotlight on Clair.

'Oops.' I said, turning to her with an apologetic look.

'His name is Dillon Welsh. He's very nice, it's just ..' and I knew the end of the sentence. He's just not Remus Lupin.

'Anyway,' Corinne said, drawing the attention of the boys away from my reddening sister. 'Who_ are_ the Gryffindor boys in your year, Kara?'

'Uh, well there is James Potter. Y'know Charles and Diane Potter's son? He's got black, messy hair, wears glasses, is in love with Lily.' I said, and they chuckled when I told them that. He'd come up in conversation before, whenever Lily stayed over.

'I know him, he's quite sweet. A bit like his father, I suppose.'

Mum had met Charles Potter a good couple of times, they were friends, I guess.

'Yes, he is. But Lily thinks he's an arrogant toerag, so...' I explained, and they all chuckled again. They knew what Lily was like. 'There is Peter Pettigrew.'

'I've heard that name before...' Craig said, and I shrugged.

'He's small, round, blonde with watery-eyes. Follows around the other boys like they were a saint.'

'Uh, then there's Remus Lupin. Tall, smart, kind-of quiet, but he's known for pulling pranks with the others, so not _that _quiet.'

'Then there is... uh... Sirius Black.' I said, and sure enough they all gasped.

'Seriously guys, it isn't a court-room drama.' I muttered, but they didn't care.

'A Black in _Gryffindor_?' Mum asked, as if she couldn't believe it.

'What does that mean?' Dad asked, obviously realising this is probably something he should know.

'Uh, the Black family is a Pure-Blood family, who believe that Muggles, and Half-Bloods, and Muggleborns are filth. They even go so far as to call Muggleborns, "Mudbloods".' Owen answered his question.

'Well, that's bloody awful. What do they think they are, royalty?'

'Yes.' We answered at the same time, but something inside me stirred. I felt the need to defend Sirius. He was completely different from his family, he shouldn't be looped in with them just because of his last name.

'But Sirius isn't like that.' I spoke quickly, drawing their attention back to me. 'He's friends with Blood Traitors like James, and Half-Bloods like Remus and I, and ...'

'He's your friend?'

'Well, no... I wouldn't say that -'

'You have been talking to him more this year though. He actually greets you when you walk by. He doesn't do that with everyone.' Clair added, and I knew exactly why. Revenge for letting slip about Dillon.

'He's an acquaintance. We're both in Gryffindor, of course we talk.'

'You never used to.'

I wanted to hit her.

So I did.

I reached over and slapped the side of her head.

'Stop it!' I growled.

'Sure, we talk, but why not? Like I was saying, he may look exactly like a Black, but he is _completely and utterly _different.' I emphasised, but they only seemed to pick up on one thing.

'How do you know what the other Blacks look like?'

'He's got a brother, Regulus, who is in Clair's year. He's in Slytherin, and while they look like twins, they're completely different.' I stated again, finally having enough.

'Now, if we're done with the twenty questions, I'm going to take Benjy a walk.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

When I came back from walking Benjy, dinner was ready. After that, I excused myself and went up to my room.

I pulled a piece of parchment out of my desk, and picked up an quill.

_Dear Mary,_

_It's only the first day, and I already want to come back. We had an argument, but you'll never guess who it was over. Sirius Black. I don't know how it happened, but it did._

_Anyway, how is your holiday going so far? Probably better than mine, but anyway... that is all._

_Love, Kara.x_

After placing the letter into an envelope, I called Douglas up to my window and tied it on to his leg.

'Take it to Mary MacDonald.' I ordered, and after giving my finger a nibble, he took of for Mary's.

I walked over to my bed and lifted Donnie up, moving him over to his own little bed.

'Benjy!' I shouted out of door, trying to lure the dog that was downstairs, up to my room.

I was greeted by pounding feet as he bounded up the stairs and into my room.

Donnie woke up with a start, but after realising it was nothing to worry about, he curled back into his bed and fell asleep again.

I sat on the bed, and tapped the place beside me.

Benjy reacted just how I thought, he jumped up beside me, and curled flopped himself down beside me. His head tucked into the side of my body, and one paw splayed carelessly over my lap.

'You can sleep up here, tonight.' I said, as I scratched the top of his head.

He wagged his tail again and pushed himself against me, and I giggled.

'You can't get any closer, boy.'

He didn't seem to care though.

After a few minutes, I pushed him off me, and I went over to my drawers, getting change into my pyjamas before I climbed into bed with a book.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

After a couple of days discussing the wedding, Veronica and I felt we were ready to go to the shops. We had agreed to just go for her wedding dress, and if we found something for Clair , Corrine and I, we'd get that as well. Clair had decided not to come with us, however, so we decided not to buy anything for her. Just incase it didn't suit her when she wore it.

'Don't take too long.' Mum said to us, as we started walking out of the house.

'We won't, Morgan, trust us. We're just going to one shop. They have an endless supply of wedding and bridesmaid dresses.' Veronica replied, before she grabbed my hand.

We waved at Mum again, then suddenly we were sent through the darkness.

It felt like the air inside my lungs was being squeezed out; that my eyes were being forced into my head; that my ears were caving into my skull.

It was horrible.

Then, as quickly as it came, we were back on the safety on land.

'I'm never getting my Apparition License.' I stated, as I doubled over, pulling my wand from my ponytail, and casting water into the goblet that Corinne conjured for me.

'Don't be so melodramatic.' Corrine said, as I took a tentative sip from the goblet. 'It gets better the more you do it. Honestly.'

'Besides, if you don't get your License, then how will you get from place to place?' Veronica asked, after I drained the water.

'Drive?' I answered weakly, and they just laughed.

'Yeah, and deal with all the traffic? Driving's fine if you want to get from your house to ours, but not if you want to get from your house to Diagon Alley.'

I nodded my head as I gave the cup back to Corinne, who quickly Vanished it.

'I suppose you're right.' I muttered, before straightening up and clearing my throat. 'Are we going then?'

They answered with a "yes", and we then took off to the shop we were looking for; Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

Although, don't let the use of the word "robes" fool you, they didn't only sell the long, one coloured, floor-length robes that Dumbledore often wore; they sold beautiful, intricate pieces that could pass as being Muggle. That was what most of us wore when we went out. Very few of us actually wore "robes".

'Miss Veronica Miller?' A small, squat woman with grey hair, who wore a vibrant rose dress greeted.

'Madam Malkin?' Veronica responded, holding out her hand for the older woman to shake.

'The second floor is dedicated to our wedding range. It is empty, of course, because this is your booking. It starts now - at one o'clock - and will end in three hours time - at four o'clock - any questions?'

'Yes, I have one.' Corinne started, even though Veronica and I were heading for the stairs.

'Yes?'

'Is there free champagne included in this?' She asked with a cheeky smile.

Veronica and I giggled, whilst Madam Malkin looked displeased with Corinne.

'Yes. A three bottle limit.' Madam Malkin answered, pursing her lips before turning away.

Corinne nodded her head, and turned back to us, giving us a thumbs up.

'Now, Kara, I won't tell your parents if you don't.' Corinne stated, as we arrived on the empty second floor, and sat our bags down on the couch.

She reached for the bottle of champagne, and the three glasses that sat next to it. She then poured equal amounts of the alcohol into the elegant glasses. She then handed one to Veronica, one to me, and kept the other for herself.

'Where will we start?' I asked, taking a tentative sip from the glass.

And it seemed like a brilliant question. For the floor was split into two. The bride's dresses, and the bridesmaid's dresses. Each half was the length of the room, which looked as big as the Great Hall at Hogwarts.

'Well, um .. we _could _just split up, looking for dresses that we like. So, Veronica, you'll look for wedding dresses, and Kara and I will look at purple bridesmaid dresses. Then, after what... an hour? We'll gather back here, and each of us will try our dresses on and decide on the ones that suit us the best. Hopefully narrowing it down to only one. What about that?'

'Sounds like a plan.' I answered, and Veronica gave a quick "yes" to agree.

'Right.' I muttered, taking another sip of my champagne, before heading with Corinne over to the "purple" section of the bridesmaid side. (Yes, it really is split into sections by colour).

'What kind of style are you looking for, Corinne?' I asked, as we started to sift through the racks of purple dresses.

They ranged from the floor-length lilac ones, to barely-covering-your-butt deep purple ones.

Our dresses had to be knee-length, of course, and a deep purple, almost-plum colour.

'Don't know, something strapless, and figure hugging, y'know?' She answered, pulling out a dress, holding it up to her body, before adding it to her "maybe" pile. 'What about you?'

'Something with straps, but maybe with a wide neckline, and something floaty, maybe something with... pleats.' I replied, pulling out two dresses and adding them to my "maybe" pile, as well.

This was going to be hard thing to decide.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

After the hour, we all reconvened at the couch area where the champagne was, and after pouring ourselves some more, we asked how we were going to narrow down our piles.

We all turned to Corinne again, seeing as she came up with the plan last time. She was the Ravenclaw; Veronica was a Hufflepuff at her time at Hogwarts. I realised that we only needed a Slytherin friend and then we'd have all four Houses, but I knew the chances of that were slim.

'Well, we try on our dresses one at a time, and the other two girls say whether it should go in the "yes" pile, or the "no" pile. We're only allowed to have 5 dresses in the "yes" pile, so if at any time you like a dress, you can veto a dress out. Get it?'

We all nodded.

'Right, well, Veronica you should go last. You are the bride after all. Your dress is the special one.' I said, taking a sip from my glass.

'All right, Corinne, you can go first.'

She had a pile of twenty dresses, but we quickly ruled out ten of those, leaving her with ten. She vetoed five of those, leaving her with five.

In the end, she settled for a gorgeous plum dress, that was knee-length and strapless (just like she wanted). It also had a half layer of pleated material, that came down from the top half of it, and cut around the front, before joining with the rest of the material. It suited her amazingly, and she jokingly said she wanted to wear it every day.

I knew what dress I wanted from the moment I picked it up off the railing. So, I tried the others on, and left that for last.

When I came out with the dress I wanted on, Veronica and Corinne were away. They had told me they were going to see if they could extend the booking, seeing as we were already two and a half hours into the three hours we had booked. And we still had Veronica to do; there was no way we we're finding her perfect dress within thirty minutes.

So, as I waited for them to come back, I looked at myself in the mirror, twirling around.

The dress I knew I was choosing was a plum colour as well, but with a very wide neckline, with a pair of thick straps. The fabric over my chest was sort of like a bow, but not in a tacky way. The skirt was pleated very finely and made of a plum chiffon.

I wished that I had wore this colour at the Christmas Ball, instead of the brown that I _did _wear. I thought this colour suited me better. Though, not as much as a deep blue suited me, but there was nothing that colour at Gladrags when we went to buy our dresses.

Of course, thinking about the Ball meant I started to think of Sirius. About that conversation we had. I remembered what he had said.

_Most girls don't try to get to know me. They just see the pretty looks._

I knew what he meant, I had said as much to Annie Turner when I sent them away from their compartment on the Hogwarts Express. I found that rather sad... it couldn't be easy not knowing whether someone was only going out with you because they _like _you, or because they thought you _looked _nice.

I'd lose faith in ever finding love if that happened to me.

Mind you, I knew it never would. I liked to think that if I ever went out with someone, I'd know whether it was genuine or not.

Though, how would you ever know completely?

I was distracted by a cough, and I turned around, my cheeks colouring slightly.

I had the strongest feeling they had called my name, but I was too busy off in Kara-World that I didn't hear them.

'Beg pardon?' I said, and they turned to each other and grinned.

'You look stunning.' Corinne said, and I felt my cheeks heat up even more.

'Yes, I'm starting to think you'll show me up.' Veronica added, and I bit my lip, turning my head away from them.

'I doubt that, but this is the one I want the most. I'm guessing you agree?'

'Definitely.' Corinne said, before biting her lip and turning to Veronica.

'Sorry, Vern, your wedding. It's totally up to you.'

Veronica let out a short, tinkling laugh, before nodding her head.

'You're right, it is my wedding! I'm getting married!' She giggled again, and unable to stop ourselves, Corinne and I joined it.

'We're all going to be sisters!' I exclaimed, and we all cheered again, before we ran over and embraced in a big group hug.

'Oh, it's a shame Clair's not here.'

'We'll give her one when we get home.' I replied, and after giggling again, we all pulled away.

'Yes, get the dress.' Veronica said, and I nodded, heading for the changing room to take it off.

Lastly, it was Veronica's turn, and we couldn't decide on anything for her. Every dress she tried on had something wrong with it.

Then, after we had given up hope, she stepped out in her last dress, and there were no words needed to be said.

The part covering her chest was ruffled vertically, and a small strip of jewels was underneath that. Then under that it was ruffled horizontally, before it started to flare out, and the ruffles started to ease, so that by the bottom, there was no ruffles, only the train.

It highlighted her blonde hair and creamy skin beautifully, giving her the effect that she was glowing.

She was _breathtaking_.

'I know.' She said, her voice full of emotion and Corinne and I ran over to get a better look at her.

'Seriously Vern,' I started, stroking the smooth silk of the skirt with the back of my hand. 'If no one cries over this, they have no heart in my opinion.'

* * *

**_Review please? Let me know what you think! :D_**

**_~Charlotte.x_**


	8. Chapter VIII

_**We're going to Scotland in this chapter! Hope you enjoy that! ;)**  
_

_**Thank you to everyone who's reviewed this so far! Or who's just read this! It makes my day! :D**_

* * *

_~Let me tell you that I love you,_  
_And that I think about you all the time,  
Caledonia you're calling me,  
And now I'm going home.  
And if I should become a stranger,  
You know it would make me more than sad,  
Caledonia's been everything,  
I've ever had.~_

_Frankie Miller - Caledonia._

* * *

**Chapter VIII.**

After Veronica, Corinne and I had returned, we were steered upstairs to pack our bags; we were leaving for my Uncle's as soon as we were packed.

I used my Hogwarts trunk, mainly because it was the only piece of luggage I had.

Even though Uncle Hamish didn't know I was magic, I managed to convince him that Hogwarts was a band that I was crazy about; so much so I got a trunk with their signature on it.

I was such a good liar that he believed me. And every time after I've told a lie, I catch someone's eye, whether it is Mum, my brothers, or their girlfriends, or even Clair, I can tell they're thinking the same thing.

This is why you're in Gryffindor.

I always smile and nod my head, it's true. If anything, if it came down to your ability to lie, I was sure I would be in Slytherin.

I started packing, shoving in comfy clothes that would keep me warm. I packed pyjamas, food for Donnie and Benjy (yes, even the animals came with us. Including Scotia), and of course, my riding equipment.

My Uncle lived in a farm, and owned and bred horses. Every time I was up there, he allowed me to ride his horses. He often said he was getting too old, so if he got a new colt or filly, I helped back it. Of course, his children - my cousins - could do it, but they didn't have as much fun as I did. So, when I arrived, they left it to me.

He had two daughters, Elsie and Bonnie. Elsie was my age, 15. Bonnie was a couple of years older, at 17.

It was no secret that we didn't get on. They thought I was a stuck up cow, who lost her roots when we moved to England, and pretended to be something I wasn't (Scottish). Me? I thought they were bitches. End of. I tried to get on with them. Tried constantly, but they just turned their noses up at it.

In the end I gave up.

So, yeah. Bitches.

But they didn't stop me from having fun with my uncle, and my aunt. And their sons, Donald and Logan. Who were twins, and were 10 years old. They were amazing; utterly fun, and completely awesome. If they were magic, I knew, I just _knew_ they would LOVE Quidditch. They'd be Beaters. I knew that as well.

'Kara, are you ready?' Mum shouted up at me, just as I shut my trunk, and pulled the fastenings to keep it secure.

'Aye, Mum.' I shouted back down at her, picking up Donnie's cage and coaxing him inside with a few treats. I then picked up Benjy's leash and attached that to his red collar.

Then, taking Donnie's cage and Benjy's leash in one hand, and my trunk in the other, I slowly descended the stairs.

'I cannot wait to be able to use magic outside Hogwarts.' I stated, as I dumped the trunk on the ground.

Dad quickly picked it up though, and placed it in the boot. Which now had, mine, Clair's, Mum and Dad's, Craig and Corinne's, and Owen and Veronica's trunk.

Mum had placed an Undetectable Extension Charm on it.

She needed to, in order to get everyone's trunk into the car, as well as everyone's body into the car.

'You'll only have to wait one year when you get to your birthday.' Mum said, and I just rolled my eyes.

'That makes it two years, right now, Ma'.' I replied, and she just grinned.

I readjusted my grip of Donnie's cage, and moved Benjy's leash over to my other hand. I had just guided both of them into the car, before I realised something.

'My wand!' I exclaimed, running back into the house and diving upstairs, to pick up my wand that was resting on my bedside table.

I twirled it in between my fingers, pulling a frightened face when purple sparks flew out the end of the wand.

Crap! I hope that doesn't count as magic! I panicked as I shoved my wand into my ponytail, and ran back down the car.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

We eventually arrived at Uncle Hamish's HOURS later.

After the first couple of hours, I curled up in my seat, leaned my head against Owen's shoulder, and fell asleep. Next thing I know, I'm being shaken awake by my big brother, and slobbered on by my dog, as my cat slept in its cage next to me.

Of course, Donnie woke up as soon as Benjy threw himself on top of me, and he did not look happy. Mind you, he never did when he was woken up by someone. He was like his mum that way (me, incase you were wondering. Is it strange I call myself my pet's mum? Probably. I try not to think about it much).

'There's my lovely nieces and nephews! Look at you! You've grown so much in the two years since I last saw you!' Uncle Hamish boomed as we got out of the car.

Like I said before, Dad and the rest of us didn't speak with a "strong" Scottish accent, Uncle Hamish moved up to the Highlands once he married Auntie Davina. He was twenty when he did that. He's thirty-eight now.

His accent had developed in those eighteen years, and apparently strengthened.

Whereas Dad, he stayed near Glasgow, then moved to England. His diluted, just that tiny bit.

'Uncle Hamish!' I exclaimed, pulling Benjy's leash to encourage him to get out of the car, and picking up Donnie's cage.

'What d'we have here?' He asked, as Benjy bounded over to him, pulling me with him.

'Uncle Hamish, this is Benjy. Benjy this is Uncle Hamish.' I introduced, looking to Benjy and giving him the signal.

He immediately sat and gave his paw to Uncle Hamish, who in turned exploded with laughter and accepted the shake.

'You've got your lil' dog well trained.'

I was about to reply, and tell him it wasn't actually me - I was away at Hogwarts, so I couldn't train him. Dad did, I just knew the signals, because I used to teach the dogs. Back when I didn't got to Hogwarts, and had hundreds of spare time on my hands - but Dad beat me to it.

'Don't listen to her Hamish. It's all me.' He joked with a gentle smile, as he moved forward and embraced his brother.

I detached Benjy's leash from his collar, and he belted away from me. I didn't have to worry though, Uncle Hamish did live on a farm, there was no traffic or anything that could harm him; except the horses, but I had a feeling he'd learn not to go near them soon enough.

I also let Donnie out of his cage, but he had been here before, so he immediately walked into the house, probably trying to find somewhere to sleep. He'd hunt for the mice later.

Lazy git.

'I would love t'ken how you manage t'fit all those trunks and bodies in t'that small car.' Uncle Hamish said, as we moved to remove our trunks from the boot.

I could see Mum grin, but she didn't say anything. We never did. He mused aloud, but we just pretended like he never said anything.

'Kara, what's that thing that's in your hair?' Auntie Davina asked, and my hand immediately flew to my wand.

Shit! They had never seen it before.

I could feel everyone's eyes on me now, as they looked at me with their disapproving eyes.

Well, they didn't notice! How was I supposed to think that Auntie Davina would notice? Mind you, I should've known. She never missed anything.

I pulled my wand out of my ponytail, and allowed the lies to spill from my mouth.

'This? It's a special hair stick. I got it from a shop in England. What you do, is pull your hair into a ponytail, the shove this through it.' - I gave them a demonstration - 'And it just adds that bit of "vavoom" to your hairdo.'

I pulled it out again, in order to let Aunt Davina get a better look at it. Thankfully, wands didn't work when they came into contact with none magic people, so there was no worries there.

'It's got a beautiful design on it.' She said, and it was true. My wand was made from chestnut, and was thirteen-and-three-quarter inches long. Its core was dragon heartstring, and the pattern on the wood closely resembled thistles; Scotland's national flower.

'You bought it from England you say?' She asked, and when I nodded she smiled, and handed me my wand back. 'You should pick me up one, for the next time you come up.'

I laughed. 'Will do, Auntie Davina. Will do.'

The greatest thing about Auntie Davina? She had a terrible memory. There was no way in hell she was going to remember that request. Yes, she never missed anything, but give her five minutes, and she'd be noticing it again.

'Well, c'mon in t'the house.' Uncle Hamish said, picking up a trunk, and steering us towards the large farmhouse.

We all walked into the house, and Benjy came diving up beside me when he realised I was walking away from him.

'You remember the rooms? Right?' Auntie Davina asked, and all of us muttered in the positive.

Clair and I shared a room, so we decided to go and dump our trunks in there, before joining the family back downstairs.

'So, tell us, how was the trip?' Uncle Hamish asked, as we sat on the couch around the roaring fireplace.

Benjy jumped up next to me, and Donnie curled up on the back of the couch, by my head.

We then regaled him of the journey from England to Scotland.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

We informed him of the hellish trip from our home to his.

Owen and Craig told him about their jobs, and Clair and I filled him in on our time at Hogwarts; well, as much as he could know. It was called St. Horton's Academy now, and of course, it didn't teach magic. But we told him about the Ball, because that could be passed as a perfectly normal thing. We didn't tell him the band played songs like "Union Unicorn" and others along those lines.

Auntie Davina asked who we went with. I told them about David, but told them he was just friend. I don't think they bought it, but oh well. Clair told them about Dillion, and I knew they believed her. Just with the way she talked... and saying "the boy I wanted to go with already had a date" probably gave it away.

I think the reason they didn't believe me, was because I made the mistake of telling them he was the only person I wanted to go with.

I updated them on Mary - who they had already met.

As I'm sure I've mentioned about a million times, we come up to Uncle Hamish's ever two years, and that year in between, Uncle Hamish, Auntie Davina, the twins and the bitches come down to our house.

Of course, Mary, being my best friend, comes over on Christmas morning with her present for me, and we have Christmas breakfast together. We would have dinner together, but we have families that we spend it with, so... we settle for breakfast.

I also updated them on Lily, Dorcas and Marlene, who I had told them about as well.

I spoke _very _briefly about my teachers, and how I was getting on with my "O-Levels".

Sometimes, I wished that they could just find out about us, so I wouldn't have to lie. Yes, maybe I was a good liar, but that didn't mean I liked doing it!

Eventually, though, we decided that retiring to our bed would be the wisest thing to do. Mainly because I was near passing out, as was Clair.

My big brothers, and my technically-big-sisters weren't as tired, but didn't protest to the idea.

As Clair and I entered our room, ready to get ready to go to bed, we suddenly stopped, when we noticed an owl waiting at the window.

It was a Tawny Owl; a brown little gorgeous thing, with a letter attached to its leg.

_Oh hell. That little spark was magic, wasn't it? This is the Ministry coming to tell me that I've been expelled from Hogwarts, isn't it?_

However, while I was panicking, Clair walked over to the owl, pulled the letter from its leg, and gave it one of Scotia's treat.

'It's from Marlene.' Clair said, walking back to me and handing me the letter.

She then grabbed her pyjamas and walked to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

I immediately relaxed, but I should've known as soon as I saw the owl. I had used Marly's owl several times; it was called Circe, named after the witch from Greece, who transfigured lost sailors into pigs.

I opened the envelope, and pulled out the letter.

_Dear Kara,_

_I thought I'd write you to FINALLY tell you about my secret. We're having a New Years party, at my house. The full year has been invited, and a couple of people from the years above and below. I've even invited the Slytherins, but I doubt they will come. You're invited, of course, as is Clair. The other girls are coming, I'll probably have their reply by the time you get this, but oh well. It's starting on New Years Eve (well, obviously) at 7 o'clock. It will end with the Bells, but people can go home before that. You and the others are staying though. And there is a room set up for people who want to collapse there, and have their parents pick them up in the morning. You know my mum likes having a full house._

_I just thought I'd let you know. Send Circe back with your reply... you should be home by New Years, shouldn't you? You normally are._

_Love from, Marlene.x_

I was sure I was grinning that a crazy person, for as soon as Clair came back into the room, she asked me what was wrong.

'We're going to a New Years party at Marly's.' I replied my feet moving by themselves as I walked back out of our bedroom and to Mum and Dad's.

I was vaguely aware that Clair was following me.

I knocked on the door twice.

'Ma'? Da'?' I called, before opening it and entering the room.

They were both in bed, both with their bedside light on, and both with a book in their hands.

'What is it, pumpkin?' Dad asked, and I walked over and handed him the letter.

After he was finished, he passed it to Mum, obviously deciding that because it was from Marlene, she should deal with it. He often thought that he didn't know enough to deal with the magic side of things. But he had met Marlene, he knew how lovely she was... I guess it was because she said the rest of the year was invited, including the Slytherins. He probably didn't know what that meant, and probably didn't know whether to trust the rest of the year.

When Mum was finished with the letter, she handed it back to me without saying anything.

She was thinking.

But me, being impatient, couldn't stand that.

'Can we go?' I asked, finding it incredibly hard to hide my enthusiasm.

She pursed her lips, a tell-tale sign that she was going to say yes, but wanted to torture me more. Well, that may be a bit of exaggeration, but she always did it when she knew I was excited about something.

"You need to learn to be more patient" she would say. And while I knew that was true, I couldn't be bothered trying to be more patient.

'If you want to go,' she started, after a pause of what seemed to be years. 'You can go. Just be alert, all right? Don't allow yourself to fall into a false sense of security. Especially if any Slytherins do turn up.'

Clair and I nodded.

Why on _earth _would we do anything with Slytherins anyway.

Eugh!

'Of course Mum, we know the idea of safety. "Anyone we meet, ask a safety question, and see if they answer truthfully", we know Mum!'

I leaned over, allowed her to kiss my forehead, before doing the same with Dad. After that, I practically skipped from the room, back to ours.

I grabbed a piece of parchment from my trunk, as well as some ink and a feather.

_Dear Marlene,_

_Aye, we're allowed to come, Clair and I. However, I have a feeling that we will be escorted there by my over-protective git, Craig. Mum's told us to be on the constant look out, but whatever. Veronica and Corinne were talking about going shopping whilst we were here, so we may pick up something nice for the party as well._

_I'll see you and the girls soon._

_Love, Kara.x_

I placed it in an envelope, and walked over to Circe.

'Take it back to Marlene for me.' I said, letting it nip my finger, and giving it one of Scotia's treats.

'So, we're going, I take it?' Clair asked as she stepped back into the room, dressed in comfy-looking pyjamas that made me jealous.

'Aye, of course. It'll be fun. Honestly.' I affirmed once I saw her skeptical expression. She never was one for parties, a bit like me; I survived if the other girls were there, though. She wasn't close to anyone, except me and her friend, Claudia. She had trouble opening up to everyone she met, and found it hard to make friends. Claudia was the only one who managed to wheedle her way into Clair's life.

'Besides, I'm sure Claudia will be there, you can stay in a corner with her if you want. But you're coming Clair.'

She nodded her head, apparently resigning herself to the fact that I was forcing her to go.

'Right. I'm going to get my jim-jams on.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I woke up the next morning, and after staying in my bed for half-an-hour to wake myself up entirely, I rolled out of bed.

'Morning,' I murmured to everyone as I shuffled into the kitchen.

They muttered their reply, as I walked over to get some bread to make toast with.

'Did I tell you the good news, Kara?' Uncle Hamish asked, as I finally sat down on the chair beside him and across from Mum.

'No, why what is it?' I asked, resting my head in my hand as I turned to watch him.

'I've got a new mare.' He answered, and my toast was immediately forgotten.

'Really? Can I see it?' I jumped from my seat, and ran to the door.

I shoved on a pair of wellies, and ran out to the side of the field, even though I was still in my pyjamas.

I heard Uncle Hamish come up behind me.

'Is it that palomino, there?' I asked, pointing down towards it.

'Aye, how did you know?' He asked, and I could tell he was smirking.

'Memory. The black one is Beauty, the bay one is Bandit, the two chestnuts are India and Wallace, and the three piebalds are Roan, June and Scarlett. I can't remember you having a palomino.'

'You're a wee smart thing, aren't ye?' He asked, giving my shoulder a pat. 'This one is called Falcon.'

I grinned, and turned back to the horse.

'Falcon!' I shouted, and it immediately perked its heard up, looking up to Uncle Hamish and I.

I saw Uncle Hamish waving a carrot above his head, and Falcon - as well as the rest of the horses - came galloping up towards us.

'She's a beautiful mover.' I said, watching how elegantly she trotted towards us. It was completely extended and graceful. I was in awe.

'Well, I'll make you a deal, go back inside, eat your breakfast, then, go and get ready, then you can go on her.'

I smiled widely, giving him a large cuddle in my excitement.

'Righto!' I exclaimed, and after giving each of the gorgeous horses a carrot, I skipped back to the house.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I was just finishing washing the plate I had used for my breakfast, when I heard a hoot.

I dropped the plate into the sink, and looked up to the window, startled.

It was Circe.

'Circe, what are you doing here?' I asked, and it answered by hopping about, and extending her leg, which had a letter on it.

'Kara, where are you?' Uncle Hamish's voice echoed through the house, and my eyes widened in worry.

'Bugger!'

I grabbed the letter from Circe's leg, and stuffed it into my pocket.

'In the kitchen!' I shouted to Uncle Hamish, and then turned back to Circe. 'Go to the bedroom you were in last night.' I ordered, and after giving a hoot, it turned and flew; hopefully to my room.

'Falcon's all tacked up, waiting for you in the stables. S'go and get ready.' He ordered, and after grinning, I turned and ran up the stairs.

As I opened the door, Clair was sitting on the bed, a book in her hand.

'Circe's here. Without a letter, though.'

'Yeah, I know, she came to the kitchen. I've already got the letter. I'm telling you, this is getting dangerous. Uncle Hamish nearly caught her.' I said, as I threw Circe one of Scotia's treat, as well as giving Scotia one. They were her treats after all, it was hardly fair using her treats to feed another owl, when she didn't get anything.

I then sat the letter from Marlene onto the desk that was there.

'You could tell him she's yours.' She answered, as she sat her book down, and walked over to Scotia. She opened the door to the cage, and gave her feathers a stroke. Scotia had been out all night hunting, and was now back in her cage, sleeping.

I scoffed. 'Yeah, I've had a cat - a _Maine Coon _no less - for five years. I've just got a dog - a _Dalmatian, _the most hyperactive dog there is - and now I've got an owl? He'll definitely know something is up!' I stopped for a breath. 'Not to mention, he finds it weird we have _two _owls, in the form of Scotia and Douglas, how would he react to the knowledge we have three?'

While it was true that he _thought _we only had two owls, we _technically _had four. Craig and Owen had one from their time at Hogwarts; Craig had Troon, a Northern White-faced Owl, and Owen had Theodore, a Great Grey Owl. Uncle Hamish had never met them, mainly because when Owen or Craig went away, they allowed their owls to fly free. They were mainly used for their work now, so they didn't feel the need to take them with them.

Clair bit her lip, and nodded her head in defeat. 'Aye, that really was a stupid idea, wasn't it?'

'Aye.' I grinned, and after a moment, we both burst into laughter.

'Right, I'm going to change into my riding stuff, I'm going to ride Falcon; Uncle Hamish's new mare.' I walked over to my trunk - which I hadn't unpacked, and had no intention of doing so - and picked out a pair of jodhpurs, my boots, and my hat.

'Have you seen the bitches?' I asked, as I walked over to the bathroom to get changed.

'I wish you'd stop calling them that while we're in their house!' Clair hissed, before sighing. 'And no, I haven't. I think they're with the others in the living room.'

'Oh, what they hell! They call me worse when they're in our house. And all right, what about the twins?'

I heard her chuckle. 'Outside, rolling around in dirt.'

I chortled with laughter.

'Sounds fun, I may join them.' I joked, as I emerged from the bathroom, changed into my riding gear.

'Now, Clair, go downstairs and join in with the banter. Don't stay up here confined to your room, go and have fun. Even if it is with our very own cartoon cows!'

'Kara, you know I don't like being in big crowds. I mean Mum, Dad, Craig, Owen, Corinne, Veronica, Auntie Davina, Bonnie _and _Elsie will be there. That is far too many people for me, then Donald and Logan may be there as well. I'd much rather stay up here, with Scotia, Donnie, and Benjy.'

'Clair... ' I started, walking over to sit beside her on the bed. 'I know what you mean, trust me, but _try_. Hell, it wasn't that long ago, I caught you in the _Fan Club _of all things, surrounded by twenty-or-so people. You managed to do that. Why is this any different?'

She sighed. 'Because... because...'

'Because?' I prompted, but I was immediately interrupted by a shout.

'Kara! C'mon!'

I gave a small sigh. 'All right!' I turned to Clair. 'We'll continue this eventually, all right?'

'Yeah, all right,' she whispered, picking up her book and immediately zoning out.

I got up and headed downstairs, and outside.

'Took you long enough.' Uncle Hamish boomed as soon as I was visible, and I rolled my eyes.

'I was talking to my sister, I didn't realise that was a crime.' I retorted, as I placed my foot in Falcon's stirrup, and hoisted myself up into the saddle.

'Now, let's see what you've got.' I stated, before kicking Falcon into a canter.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I had just put Falcon back into the field, and was walking up to the room, when I remembered all about Circe and the letter from Marlene.

I broke into a run, and burst into the room, startling everyone that was in it.

'Sorry.' I muttered to Clair - who had her hand over her heart - to Circe and Scotia - who have gave a loud screech - and Benjy and Donnie - who had jumped awake, completely startled.

I took the letter from the desk again, and opened it.

_Dear Kara,_

_Well, it's great that you and Clair can come, and don't forget to tell her to have fun! I know what she's like. I've already gotten replies from most people; our favourite Gryffindor boys are coming, as is your favourite Ravenclaw boy._

_Anyway, this was just a little letter to let you know how happy we are. That's right. The girls are staying over. We miss you!_

_Love, Marlene.x_

_That's right, we really do! You should come back down from Scotland and join us. Even though that sounds completely stupid. - Lily.x_

_Acht, don't listen t'her! Have fun up in Scotland! Say "hiya" to her from me. - Mary.x_

_They were talking about coming up to Scotland to get you. Don't worry, I'll keep them on the right track ... and stop them from doing that. Have fun! - Dorcas.x_

'Look at that, got notes from all of them. They're having a sleepover.' I said, a grin on my lips.

I pulled out another piece of parchment and wrote my reply.

_Dear the lot of you,_

_I can't wait either. It'll be great fun! At least I hope so, but every mini-party we have always is. Our favourite Gryffindors? Says who? I'll give you my favourite Ravenclaw boy, however._

_Lily; yes, the idea is terminally stupid. Mary; I will, don't worry about it. Dorcas; thank Merlin, there is someone sensible in that group!_

_Love, Kara.x_

_PS - Don't write back! Uncle Hamish is bound to catch us if you do!_

Once I was finished, I attached it onto Circe's leg, and watched as she flew back to Marlene.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Christmas came and went without any dramas.

I got several book from Craig, Corinne, Owen and Veronica. Mum, Dad and Clair - because she didn't have a job - got me several LPs from different artists. Uncle Hamish, Auntie Davina, the two cows, and the twins got me drawing utensils, such as paint, pencils and paintbrushes.

I thanked everyone for what they got me, entirely pleased with everything. Of course, I was a bit disappointed I didn't get the Nimbus. I mean, I knew that they couldn't give me the broomstick in front of Uncle Hamish and the others, but they didn't even hint that I was getting it.

But, whatever. I knew it was short notice. If anything, it was to be expected; not getting it.

Christmas dinner was _brilliant_ as usual. Mum and Auntie Davina made it. The starter was an extremely creamy tomato soup. The main meal was a succulent turkey, with mashed potatoes, roast potatoes and a rich gravy. Then, dessert, which was the softest, smoothest chocolate sponge cake I had ever had, which was accented with cream.

Needless to say, I felt that in that one meal, I put on a stone. I was stuffed full to the brim, and for half-an-hour later, I couldn't move, I was so full.

The next day, before heading into town with the others, I rode Falcon again, and went a run with Benjy.

I had just came back, Benjy and I both panting heavily, when I was greeted by Corinne, Veronica, Clair and Mum.

When I stopped in front of them, Benjy continued walking, straight into the house, probably for some water, then to collapse in a heap and sleep.

'Go and get a shower, then get ready. It's already ten o'clock, if we're any later, there'll be no point in going. You know what Boxing Day is like!'

After rolling my eyes, I did just that, trying to be as quick as possible.

'Right, right, I'm ready!' I declared, running outside and funnelling myself into the car.

'You know I hate shopping. We're not taking long, I hope.' I said, as I fastened my seatbelt.

'We'll be as long as it takes.' Mum said. 'I don't want you complaining.'

I groaned.

'Too late.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

We were shopping for three hours! My feet were aching, and I couldn't be bothered anymore. I was entirely happy when we started going back to the farm.

I picked up a little knee-length black dress to wear to Marlene's New Years party, that had long chiffon sleeves.

The others said that accenting it with some silver accessories would really help bring out the dress - which we bought as well; jewellery, shoes and a bag big enough to carry my wand.

When we got back to the farm we went inside for about an hour, before we started packing up the car, ready to go home again.

The journey home was just as tedious as the one coming up, but despite this, I had the excitement of Marlene's party to pull me through.

I really couldn't wait to go. For some strange, bizarre reason.

* * *

**_So, there is going to be a New Years party. What d'you think will happen at that?_**

**_Review and let me know! And if you haven't already, like my Facebook page (the link is on my profile page), I've added all the face characters for every character I've _****_introduced. :) As well as dresses and all that good stuff, and covers made by a lovely friend of mine. :D It's good fun!_**

**_~Charlotte.x_**


	9. Chapter IX

**_The New Year party is here! You'll see if your guesses were right!_**

**_Once again, thank you to everyone who takes the time to read and review this story! It makes my day! _**

* * *

_~The phone rings in the middle of the night,  
My father yells "what you gonna do with your life?",  
Oh daddy dear you know you're still number one,  
But girls just wanna have fun.~_

_Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun._

* * *

**Chapter IX.**

New Years Eve had finally arrived, which meant that it was Marlene's party today. It started at seven o'clock, so at six, I dragged Clair upstairs, shoved her into her room and told her to get ready, before heading to my room to do just that.

I pulled out the outfit that I got on Boxing Day; the black dress with chiffon sleeves, as well as the pair of silver heels, and the matching silver bag.

When I was ready, I marched down to Clair's room, and knocked on the door.

'Clair, get your butt moving! I want to see them before everyone arrives!' I shouted, knocking on the door again.

'I'm coming you insisting tart.' She replied and I just chuckled.

I leaned against the wall next to her door, waiting for her to come out. I kept checking the silver watch on my wrist. I just wanted to get to Marly's and meet up with the girls again. I hadn't seen them since I had came home from Uncle Hamish's.

Well, I had saw Mary, mainly because she was my best friend and I couldn't live a day without seeing her. Sometimes, she came over for breakfast and other times I would go over to her house. But even when we were out of Hogwarts, we always saw each other every day. I can't remember a day when I was home and we didn't meet up, even if it was only for five minutes.

I was too busy in my head - where I usually stayed - that I didn't realise Clair had left her room with a sigh, and was currently standing in front of me.

I blinked a few times, before smiling at her.

She was wearing a strapless pale pink dress that came down to her knees. It was made of silk and was incredibly simple, and incredibly her. She wore a pair of white ballet pump shoes, and carried a white bag as well.

'You got everything that you need for the night?' I asked and she nodded, holding up her small white clutch bag.

Mum had placed a Undetectable Extension Charm on the bag, so we could take our things with us, without having to take a large bag. It would just be easier that way. Mind you, I tried to dig out my toothbrush that I had packed too early, and it took me ages. That was the problem with Undetectable Extension Charms on bags, because the bag was small, it was hard to see into it.

It was even worse because I couldn't do magic yet - only a year to go! - and couldn't even do a Summoning Charm! In the end, I gave up, and just got Craig to do it for me.

'I still can't believe you're making me do this, Kara.' She hissed, as we headed down the stairs, to the waiting Craig.

'You will be _fine_.' I affirmed, as we finally reached Craig who was standing at the door. 'Besides, I'm sure you-know-who will be there, and he'll like that, knowing you can be adventurous as well, because I'm sure that's what he likes.'

'Please, use the name Lord Voldemort.' Craig said with a roll of his eyes, apparently only hearing the use of the phrase "you-know-who". 'You're not fearing him, so don't fear the name.'

'Oh, shut up you overreacting git.' I snapped. 'We're not talking about Voldemort - and for the record, I don't fear him, and I am most definitely _not_ giving him the honour of calling him a "lord" either - we were talking about someone else, who I didn't want to name in front of you. Now, c'mon, like I said to Clair, I want to get there before the other people do, and catch up with my friends!'

I grasped his hand and Clair's, and waited for him to Apparate us to Marlene's.

'You're not leaving without saying goodbye to me!' Mum called and I had to bite my lip to stop a groan coming out.

I loved my mum, but sometimes she could be a little overprotective, and still think we were five-year-olds who needed her undivided attention. Mind you, weren't all mother's like that? Wouldn't everyone be like that with the child they gave birth to; the child they brought into the world.

She came over to stand in front of us, and gave each of us a kiss on our forehead.

'Yeah, okay, Mum, you've said goodbye... can we go now?' I asked, and she simply grinned.

'You remind me _so _much of your dad when he was younger. If he wanted to go somewhere, he wasn't pleased with anyone trying to get in his way.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Yes, I'm very much like my father, and I am not happy and being held back from what I want to do, so, please Mum... can you let us go?' I asked, and after laughing she nodded her head.

'Of course. Be safe, Clair. You too, Kara. Craig'll pick you up tomorrow.'

I nodded my head, and then waited for Craig to Apparate us to Marlene's.

He quickly complied, and once again, I was overcome by the feeling of everything being forced into the centre of my body. And once again, as quickly as it came, it was gone.

'Why did we have to come my Apparition? I don't want to be sick on Marly's doorstep.' I said, as I closed my eyes and placed my hand over my stomach, willing the contents to stay there.

'Like Corinne told you, it gets easier the more times you do it, now, c'mon, I want to get back to Corinne, she said she's wearing this…' He trailed off when Clair and I just stared at him.

'Never mind.' He finished quickly, his voice rising in pitch and his face getting a red undertone. I think it was the first time I ever saw Craig embarrassed. Even if it was only just slightly.

'Never mind indeed.' I said, with a grimace on my face. 'I'm not really interested in you and Corinne's sex life.' I stated, before I headed away from him and chapped on the door three times.

Normally, I would just let myself in, but I promised my family to wait until someone arrived to ask a safety question. It was Owen's idea, he worked in the Ministry after all, and was eager to tell us the new safety regime. Mum liked it, Craig _loved _it and was eager to make sure everyone followed it.

The door opened, and I expected to be greeted by Marlene, but instead I was greeted by… Sirius?

'Sirius, you're here early. What happened? Did you move in?' I joked, and from the side of my eye, I saw Craig look at me questioningly.

'No,' he laughed. 'James wanted to get here early - I suspect Lily was the reason - and Marlene was busy, and I was near the door, so…'

He shrugged and I grinned back at him.

'Ah, all right.' I said, forgetting all about my promise in that moment, and made a move to enter the house.

'Oi! Kara, what did we agree?' Craig asked, reaching out and grabbing my shoulder, pulling me back and away from the door.

I groaned in annoyance.

'Aye, I remember.' I said, rolling my eyes on purpose, just so he could see me do it.

He looked at me, and it looked like he was strongly fighting the urge to stick out his tongue. I would call him a child, but I have to admit, I was fighting this urge as well.

'Uh… I dunno what to ask him.' I complained, and Sirius didn't look confused when I turned back to him.

'Security question?' He asked, and when I nodded he smirked. 'Thought so, James' dad made us ask one when we got here.'

'Right.' I repeated a million times, before I thought of one; pathetic though it was. 'Which Quidditch team do I support?'

He took a second to think before he answered. 'The Montrose Magpies, isn't it? Most successful team in the league, and they're Scottish. Why wouldn't you support them? Isn't that what you said to James?' He asked with a smirk, and after smiling and nodding at him, I turned to Craig.

'Happy now?'

'No, not really, how does a complete stranger know what Quidditch team you support? That's not usually common knowledge when it comes to you.'

'He's not a stranger, he's a Gryffindor as well.' I explained, before turning to Sirius.

_Might as well introduce them_. I thought with a mental shrug.

'Sirius, this is my brother Craig MacNeil. Craig, this is… Sirius Black.' I said, taking a small pause on how to describe Sirius. Was he my friend? I wouldn't really say so. And you don't go about introducing people as your "acquaintance".

Craig seemed a bit hesitant, but probably remembered everything I had said about Sirius - I still had no idea _why_ I had to defend him - and he held out his hand for Sirius to shake.

'Pleased to meet you.' He said, before turning back to Clair and I. ' Right, I'm going, don't do anything I wouldn't do.'

He then gave my hair a ruffle, before Disapparating to Corinne.

'Right, c'mon Clair, get in the house, and start to realise you're going to have fun.' I said, giving her shoulder a push, causing her to enter the house.

Luckily, Sirius had stepped out of the way, so she didn't bump into him.

When we were both inside, Sirius closed the door behind us.

'Since you're demanding me to go and have fun, I'm going to see the girls.' She said, before taking off and going into the living room.

'You're demanding her to have fun?' Sirius asked, as we both watched her leave.

'Aye, she only has one friend called Claudia, and she doesn't go out much. I mean, _I_ don't like large crowds either, but if I'm with my friends I don't care.' I explained, as I ran a hand through my hair. 'She needs to get out more and become more adventurous, I'm just pushing her along a bit.'

'And quite literally.' He added with a smirk, and I smiled at him.

'I'm surprised your family let you come tonight.' I said, as I shrugged out of my jacket, and placed it on to the coat rack by the side of the door.

The McKinnons were known blood-traitors, and the crazy people who believe in blood supremacy - such as the Blacks - thought that was just as bad as being a Muggleborn.

'Ah, well, I don't have to listen to them anymore you see.' He stated, and when I looked at him with furrowed brows, he continued. 'I ran away. I'm living with James now.'

I smiled. 'Well, that sounds better.'

From all those little things I had heard from various people about his family, it was true. The Potters were really nice people; the Blacks weren't. And I don't think that was changing any time soon.

'It is.' He said, and I was going to say something else to him, when Mary came bouncing through to the room.

'What're you doin' here! C'mon through t'the livin' room, we want t'see you!' She grasped hold of my hand, and dragged me through to the living room.

I shuffled along behind her, letting her drag me through to the girls. I turned my head to look over my shoulder, and saw Sirius following us, a grin on his lips. Probably from Mary's antics.

'I've said it once; I've said it a million times… you're a crazy little Scottish girl.' I said as she finally released me in front of the girls, as well as James, Peter and Remus.

'What were you doing through there anyway?' Marlene asked, and I just shrugged.

'Calming down after my idiotic and protective brother brought me here.'

They nodded their heads in understanding. They knew I loved my brother, but also knew his overprotectiveness could be suffocating at times.

I clapped my hands together after I moved my clutch bag under my arm, gaining the attention of everyone in our little circle.

'Right, Clair, c'mon to we put our bags and that into our room.' I said, and smiling she nodded her head and followed me through to the room.

'I would give you directions, but you know where it is.' Marlene shouted after us, and I just turned back to grin at her.

'Of course!'

It was then I noticed that the boys had moved from their position near us, and had moved back to the door. Probably due to the death glares Lily was giving James. He probably decided that for his own safety, he should move out of her view.

'Now, it's the second door on the right.' I explained to Clair, as we approached them. 'And never go on the first floor! That's where her mum, dad and sister sleep. Go on that floor, and the party is _over_!'

We were just about to turn the corner that would lead us to the room, when a voice stopped us.

'How do you know that?'

I turned back around, and saw the four boys looking at us, curiosity written on their face.

'I've stayed here before, and we don't just sit around braiding each other's hair. We have _fun_.' I responded with a wide smile, before I turned and steered Clair to our room for the night, not really caring about what the boys thought of that statement.

As soon as we were in the room, however, Clair immediately asked, 'Why are they talking to you so much?'

I stopped in the process of taking my wand from my bag, and turned to her, not exactly sure how to respond.

I opened and closed my mouth a good few times, probably giving a really accurate impression of a fish out of water.

I thawed out, however, and replied, 'Honestly? I haven't a clue, but I don't really care. It's not like they're stupid. The conversations aren't that bad, so, whatever, but yeah, I don't really care.'

Maybe that was a lie; I did care why they suddenly started talking to me, but I wasn't about to let her know that… I didn't even want to admit it to myself!

'Anyway,' I started, changing the subject completely. 'Are we going back out to the party?'

I didn't give her a chance to reply, and marched straight past her, back to the girls.

I was _not _going to think of those Gryffindor boys again tonight!

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

It didn't take long for everyone else to arrive, and soon the party was underway.

Now, I wasn't one for large crowds, but this was actually so much fun! The music was loud and good, and everyone was dancing. Marlene told me her mum had placed a charm on the room, meaning we could play the music as loud as we wanted, and they couldn't hear us. Her mother, father and sister were having their own little party on the first floor, and occasionally, Marlene would go and join in. But not for long, she said she liked this party better.

The party seemed to pass by so quickly, and it wasn't long before it was fifteen minutes to the the new year.

'Can you believe it's nearly 1976?' Mary asked, a grin on her lips as she swayed to the music.

Marlene's mother had gave us a little bit of alcohol before the party started, and I was sure it was beginning to take its toll on Mary.

'No!' Dorcas replied instantly, and the rest of us laughed loudly.

It _was_ hard to believe. Where had the year went? I guess that was the thing with Hogwarts, you spend most of your year there, save for a couple of months. And time always seems to pass by _so _quickly. It's unreal. Mind you, they say time flies when you're having fun, and there isn't a day goes by at Hogwarts that isn't fun. Sure, it was a school, but it was a school where you spent the rest of the day with your friends. It wasn't like a normal Muggle school, where you went home as soon as the school day was over.

'So, who are you all kissing at midnight?' Lily asked, after she took a sip from her drink. Her eyes perused the room, before they settled back on us.

I didn't really know what she was looking for, probably the boy she had agreed to kiss.

Marlene was the first to respond, not that that surprised me.

'I'm kissing the boy I went to the Ball with. What's his name? Ryan?'

I giggled at her, she couldn't even remember her dates' name.

'It's Ross!' Dorcas responded, apparently appalled at the fact that Marlene was planning to kiss someone when she couldn't even remember his name. Dorcas was a hopeless romantic, and probably didn't find Marlene's idea very romantic.

'Oh, that's right.' She corrected, waving her hand and dismissing it entirely. 'Ross Turner. Annie's cousin. Whatever… anyway, that's who I've got lined up. What about the rest of you?'

'Well, I'm kissing the boy I went to the Ball with as well.' Lily answered.

'Same.' Mary and Dorcas added, before they all turned and looked at me.

'What?' I asked, suddenly feeling like I was five-years-old, getting into trouble from my parents for coming in dirty. Something that happened extremely often. I guess that was what happened when you grew up with two big brothers.

'Who are you kissing at midnight? David?' Marlene asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

I swatted her arm with my hand.

'No! I told him I didn't want to go out with him… I can't just go and kiss him because it's new years. And anyway, I've not got anyone lined up to kiss.' I trailed off, completely embarrassed by this fact, especially when they all looked at me like I was an idiot.

'It's only a new years kiss!' I exclaimed, trying to get that look out of their eyes, but it wouldn't budge. Was it pity? I don't think so, I don't see why I deserved pity... but I didn't have any chance to think about what that look in their eyes was, because suddenly, a light appeared in Marly's eyes, and I knew it would only cause trouble.

She grinned. 'Well, we need to remedy that, don't we?'

She then stood up on the nearest table, turned down the music and shouted to get everyone's attention.

When everyone had stopped talking and dancing, she started to talk. I just stared at her with wide eyes, unable to believe that she was doing this. I was completely frozen. 'Okay! It's what… ten minutes to midnight? And my friend, Kara here,' she waved her hand in my direction.

Everyone's eyes were suddenly on me, and I hesitantly took a step towards Lily to hide behind her back.

I felt like a pup on show.

'Hasn't got anyone to kiss.' Marlene continued, after giving me a grin. 'So, what we need, is _volunteers_.'

My eyes widened in shock, and I no longer cared about the fact everyone was looking at me, I moved from behind Lily's back and grabbed Marlene's hand, tugging her down off the table.

'Trust me, we don't need any volunteers!' I affirmed, shaking my head as I pushed Marlene - who was laughing hysterically - into Lily's arms. 'Go back to your party!'

I reached over and turned the music back up before turning around to corner Marlene. She was dead.

Yet, instead of giving her into trouble like I was going to, our eyes locked and we just dissolved into giggles.

Don't ask my why, because I really couldn't have told you. It just seemed like there was no point in arguing; it actually wasn't that bad anyway. In fact, it was really, _really _funny.

The other girls soon joined in, and we were just a bunch of giggling girls in a corner. But no one seemed to be bothered about that. It was a party after all.

Eventually we did stop, and the laughter faded away.

A few minutes went by with some idle chatter, before the rest of the girls headed off to find their "New Year Kisser", so I was left wandering about the room aimlessly. Trying to make my way to some random area where no one could see that I was bringing in the bells alone.

I had just resolved to head back to the room, when I bumped into someone's chest. I ended up flying a few feet back, and I was thankful that I didn't have a drink with me, otherwise it'd be all over myself.

'Sorry!' I exclaimed as I looked up, and came face to face with Sirius.

'Don't worry about it.' He dismissed, waving his hand and I just nodded twice.

If he told me not to worry about it, I wouldn't worry about it.

I was ready to move away, when I saw an ever-growing smile on his face. This stopped me in my tracks and I furrowed my brow at him.

What was with the smile? What had he saw or thought of that had him smiling that wide?

'What?' I asked, too curious for my own good.

I had the strongest feeling it was going to get me into trouble one day. But I didn't really care.

'So, did anyone volunteer?' He asked, and I felt my face heat up.

He just _had _to bring that up, didn't he? Bloody Sirius Black.

'No, they did not. I told them not to anyway.' I answered, running a hand through my hair. 'Seriously, I can't control Marlene; she's too outspoken. It's gonna get her in trouble one day.'

He was just about to respond, when the room was suddenly filled with the countdown.

'Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!'

I started to join in, turning to the source of the radio, waiting for it to get to one. Last year was a good year, but this year was going to get better. I would make sure of it.

'Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!'

I turned back to Sirius, not really sure what to expect. A handshake? A quick hug? I assumed that would be all I would get.

He quickly surprised me, though.

As soon as I turned back to him, he leaned forward, moving in towards me and placed a peck on my lips before pulling back.

'Happy New Year, MacNeil.' He said, before he turned on his heel and headed back to the crowd, obviously looking for his friends.

I watched him walk away from me, and I was in such a state of shock, that I did nothing until I could no longer see the back of his head.

I moved slightly, and found him with James, Remus and Peter. I was sure I looked strange, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open. I continued to stare at him, and he probably felt someone's eyes on him, because he turned around to meet my eyes.

I immediately thawed out and jumped, turing away from him so I couldn't see him. I would _not _meet his eye. I would _not _let him see that surprised expression on my face. Absolutely not!

Did that really just happen?

I was quickly drawn from my thoughts when I was bumped in the shoulder by somebody else's.

I blinked a few times, regaining my senses, and finally making my way through the crowd.

I was no longer in the mood to deal with the large crowd, I turned on my heel and headed for the room where I would be staying with the other girls tonight.

I entered the room and closed the door behind me. I leaned against the door and sighed heavily. I bit my lip and then released it, before raising my fingers to them. I brushed it against my lower lip and then over my upper lip.

After heaving another sigh, I pushed myself away from the door and threw myself down on the mattress I had claimed, burying my face in the pillow.

I stayed there until the girls came into the room an hour later.

* * *

**_Oh ho ho, what do you think about that?_**

**_Think anything will come of it?_**

**_Tell me in a review!_**

**_~Charlotte.x_**


	10. Chapter X

_**Right, so after that little, sort-of a cliffhanger, I'm back with this chapter! Hope you enjoy it!**  
_

_**And thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story! It means so much to me! Mainly because I love writing it so much! **_

* * *

_~Shot through the heart,  
And you're to blame,  
You give love,  
A bad name.~_

_Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name._

* * *

**Chapter X.**

An hour after I collapsed on to the bed, the girls came back into the room.

I had just stayed there, not moving and just thinking things through. Strangely enough, Sirius hardly ever popped into my mind, except for the first fifteen minutes.

'Where did you get to? You missed all the fun.' Marlene informed, and I sat up, moving up to lean my back against the headrest of the bed.

'Did I?' I asked, not exactly caring that I did.

The girls didn't seem to notice that though, nor did they notice the fact that I wasn't smiling. Well, Clair did, as she moved over and sat next to me, wrapping her arm around my shoulder and giving me a small cuddle. She really was the best sister ever.

'So, did you get anyone to snog when the Bells sounded?' Marlene asked, moving over to sit on the bed Lily had claimed for herself. The room was massive and managed to fit five beds in it. I would've said it was a charm of some sort, but her parent's just liked big rooms and big houses.

'I didn't get a _snog_. But I did get a peck.' I replied, not really sure I wanted to tell them, but they asked, and I wasn't about to lie to them.

'Oh, who from?' Lily asked, as she stopped rummaging through her bag for her pyjamas and looked at me.

I opened my mouth to answer, but no sound came out. I closed my mouth, cleared my throat and finally managed to answer this time, 'Sirius.'

'Sirius?' Lily repeated, her pyjamas falling from her hand.

'Sirius Black?' Marlene clarified, her mouth hanging open wide.

'Aye, Sirius Black. What's so hard to believe?' I snapped at them, was I really that small and insignificant that my _best friends _couldn't even see someone like Sirius Black doing anything with me?

'It's not that it's hard to believe. I just couldn't see you letting him kiss you.'

_Oh._

'I was taken by surprise. I just turned around, and he leaned in and gave me a kiss. It was nothing really. I don't really care. It was a New Year's kiss, that's all.'

But I guess that was a lie. That I didn't feel anything for him. It wasn't like when David touched me at the Hallowe'en party, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. I didn't feel anything like that. It was just… that little peck was still burning on my lips. Even now. And I could close my eyes and still see him leaning towards me.

But I knew that was natural. The boy had technically stole my first kiss, even if it was just a peck!

'Anyway, I'm shattered. I'm going to bed.' I rolled myself off the bed, and picked up my small clutch bag before making my way to the bathroom.

Even though Lily was the only one with pyjamas in her hand, and was probably wanting to change before I did, she didn't protest.

I shut the bathroom door behind me, and sighed as I locked the door, leaning my back against the door.

I closed my eyes and let out another sigh, before I pushed myself away from the door and got changed into my pyjamas, before pulling out my toothbrush and brushing my teeth.

When I came back through to the room, Marlene was no where in sight, and I assumed that she had went back to her own room to go to her bed.

Normally, she would've stayed down here with us, but I had a feeling she didn't want the other people who were staying tonight rummaging through her room.

I didn't blame her.

I smiled as Lily passed me, heading into the bathroom to get ready.

I slipped into the bed, pulling the covers around my body and quickly falling asleep after murmuring "goodnight" to my friends.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I awoke with a start.

I placed a hand over my heart, trying to calm it after having the worst kind of dream. The kind when you're falling and falling, and it seems you're never going to stop.

I looked around myself and noticed that everyone else was still asleep. I thought that I was maybe awake too early, but when I looked at the clock, I saw that it was only 9am.

Deciding that because the girls got to bed later than I did, I would leave them lie. I slipped out of the bed, tiptoeing my way to the door; picking up my small clutch bag as I passed it. I would probably need my wand; I really didn't feel safe being parted from it for any length of time.

I gently closed the door behind me, and then proceeded to walk through to the kitchen. Marlene's mother, Sarah - though we always called her Mrs M - was always cooking when I woke up. She loved to cook. She had the same pretty blonde hair as her daughter, but instead of having warm brown eyes like Marlene, she had startling blue eyes.

I walked into the kitchen and was greeted by the alluring smell of bacon, eggs and toast, all cooking away by themselves.

Mrs M was chatting away to her daughter, and they were both sat on the stools that sat at one of the worktops.

'Morning.' I greeted, making my way over and sitting on the last stool that was there.

'Morning, dear,' Mrs M replied, a smile on her kind face. 'How did you sleep?'

I grinned. 'Horrible, as usual. You?'

'Extremely well… brought in the Bells before we fell asleep.'

My grin widened. 'Oh, the same as me then.'

I saw a little light flicker in Marlene's eye, and I knew that it was the wrong thing to say. I knew that that little flicker would end in trouble for me today… it always did.

Deciding to kill the idea before anything became of it, I asked, 'So, what's the damage? Who stayed?'

This was definitely the wrong question to ask, for her reply had me gritting my teeth together.

'Your Gryffindor lover boy and his friends.' She answered with a grin, as she winked at me.

I groaned at the wink and buried my head in my hands. I loved the girl, but sometimes she could be too brash for her own good. But I guess growing up with no fears did that to you.

I was too busy with my face in my hands, trying to hide the blush that I felt creeping up on me, that I didn't realise Mrs M had started looking at me with confusion written on her face. It was only when she spoke that I realised she didn't have a clue what Marlene was talking about.

'What do you mean, Marlene?' Mrs M asked, and I heard her sitting down a bowl on to the worktop. 'Does Kara have a boyfriend?'

My head shot up, no longer caring about my embarrassment.

'No! No I do not!' I insisted, but beside me I heard Marlene giggle.

'She kissed someone last night at the Bells, mother dear!'

"Mother dear" was the way she answered to her mother when she was dishing out the gossip. It was like when I called my brother "brother dear", except I did it to wind him up… okay, so it was nothing like when I called my brother that. Mind you, Mrs M did get a little annoyed when she called her that.

'Really? Who?' She asked, completely curious now and making her way back towards us.

'No one! I mean… I _did _kiss someone, but it's nothing really. It was an innocent New Year's peck. That's all.' I tried, but I had a feeling no one was listening to me, and if they were, they certainly weren't caring about my argument.

'Sirius Black!' Marlene burst out, almost like she couldn't hold it her mouth any longer; like she would burst if she didn't get it out.

'Who is that?' Mrs M asked, but before Marlene could help her, four figures walked into the kitchen.

I would've been glad to have the distraction - normally - but I wasn't when the four figures were James, Peter, Remus and Sirius himself. This was not helpful… this was the opposite of helpful!

'I hope we're not intruding.' James said, and Mrs M just shook her head.

Marlene then nudged my shoulder, and the only thing I could do was glare at her, and hope and pray she said nothing.

'Not at all, beside from the girls, you're the only ones that stayed so I'm just making breakfast. Head through to the living room and I'll call you when it's ready.' Mrs M answered with a warm smile that the boys just had to return.

'Thanks, Mrs McKinnon.' James replied, and I had to turn my face to hide the grin that came onto my face.

What a polite little boy.

Mrs M apparently thought so, for she laughed and said, 'Please, call me Sarah.'

Before they could reply, I found myself saying, 'Or just do what we do, and call her "Mrs M".'

I turned to her to give her a grin, which she returned.

'Or you could call me Mrs M. Don't ask me when those girls came up with it, but it's just stuck, I suppose.'

'Mrs M is _far _cooler than Sarah, you've got to admit it.' I laughed, before leaning over the counter to see the bacon. 'And that's needing turned.'

'Oh, so it does… thanks Kara. Anyway, you boys head through there.' Mrs M ordered, and the boys quickly complied and made their way through to the living room.

Just when I thought I was safe, Mrs M came over to our side of the worktop and leaned close to us.

'What one was it she kissed?' She whispered, peering over her shoulder to get another look at the boys.

The kitchen opened up into the living room, and the only thing that separated it was a small wall that was made of glass, and so see through.

She turned back to us, and looked at Marlene expectantly.

'D'you see the one with the long, black hair? The one that just has that look of royalty?' Marlene asked, and I just rolled my eyes.

'Or the only one with black hair that doesn't have glasses?' I offered, trying to stop them from calling his looks regal.

Mind you… I guess you could say that. Those high cheekbones, that straight nose, that nice jawline… good Lord, why was I thinking about that?

However, I was drawn from my thoughts when Marlene's mum replied, 'Oh, he's handsome. Well done, Kara.'

My head snapped around to her, and I narrowed my eyes at her.

'You are both bloody awful, y'know that?' I hissed, before leaping down from the stool and storming through to the living room, forgetting entirely that the boys were through there. And all I wore was some shorts, and a spaghetti-strap top.

I stopped as soon as this thought ran through my mind, and looked down at myself.

However, I was saved from any embarrassment, when I heard the other girls coming into the kitchen. I turned on my heel, happy that the boys hadn't looked up from their discussion to notice me.

_I wonder what they're talking about?_

The thought ran through my mind so fast, that it never occurred to me they may've been talking about my kiss with Sirius.

'Finally! Decent human beings!' I exclaimed, as I ran back through to the girls, happy with the fact I had someone to talk sense to.

Dorcas wouldn't talk about Sirius because she was sweet and knew my feelings. Mary wouldn't either for the same reason, nor would Lily or Clair. Sometimes, it's good to know that people have different personalities.

'What's happened?' Lily asked, after inhaling deeply, much like I had done when I entered the kitchen. The smells were far too alluring not to.

'She keeps bringing up the thing that happened last night… and told her mum!' I explained, turning to Marlene with a pointed stare.

She shrugged her shoulders at me, before she leaned over and went to take something from the pan, when her mother smacked her hand away.

'None of that!' Mrs M snapped, before she smiled. She didn't really get angry often. 'And if you _are _going to start doing that, get out of my kitchen! I'll shout you when it's ready.'

Grumbling slightly, we all made our way from the kitchen and into the living room, and seeing as I was with everyone else this time - who were dressed just the same as me - I no longer cared about the boys seeing me like this.

The girls walked over to the sofa and the chairs, next to the ones that the boys sat on.

I, however, moved over to the radio and turned it on. I then started fiddling about with the buttons on the radio; I knew that this thing could play Muggle stations, but it just took me ages to press the right buttons so it did. However, when I heard the familiar tune of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" I knew I was listening to Muggle music, so I moved away from the radio and went to sit next to my friends again.

As usual, my foot started to tap along to the music, and I started to hum along to the lyrics.

'Who is that?' A voice asked, pulling me away from the amazing music that was emitting from the radio.

I turned my head and found James looking at me with a raised eyebrow, waiting for my answer.

Now, normally I would be keen to answer anyone's question. But now, the music was playing and everyone that knew me, knew not to interrupt me whilst I was listening to music.

So, I answered shortly, 'Queen.'

I then hoped that it would be enough of an answer to keep them quiet.

Sadly, it was not.

'But they're men.'

Despite the fact my favourite band was playing, I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing.

The Wizarding World doesn't have any royalty - though there were people who thought they were - but you learned that the Muggle world did in Muggle Studies. Clearly, James had learned and remembered this, and had discovered that a Queen was a female ruler.

Obviously, he was confused.

'Of course they are!' I replied, still giggling slightly. 'The lead singer is Freddie Mercury, the guitarist is Brian Mae, the bass guitar is John Deacon and the drummer is Roger Taylor. They're my favourite band, so they are!'

'But _why _call themselves "Queen"?' James asked again, and I sighed realising I was never going to listen to the song.

'Because it's regal. It's powerful. And can be open to various interpretations. That's what the lead singer, Freddie said… so there.'

'I'd never call my band that… it's so feminine.'

I rolled my eyes.

'James, you will never be able to sing like Freddie, play guitar like Brian, play bass like John or play drums like Roger. You're a Pure-Blood wizard who never really appreciates the talent of playing music without charming the instrument! They play with their blood, sweat and tears. It's what the do to live; it's their passion. And if they're making music as amazing as they are, they can call themselves whatever the hell they want!'

After huffing and crossing my arms over my chest, I turn my head to the girls and find them all biting their lips, trying to hold back laughter.

'What?' I asked, and they suddenly couldn't hold it in anymore. They all burst out laughing.

An involuntary smile spread across my face, and I repeat, 'What?'

Though there was more laughter in my voice that time.

'You!' Lily replied, and I furrowed my brow at her.

'What d'you mean "me"?'

'How possessive you are over your music. It's so… I don't know. Amusing and cute and endearing.'

The smile on my face widened and I uncrossed my arms from across my chest.

'I'm not sure I like those words… but I like the fact it's clear how possessive I am.' I turned from the girls, back to James and the others, who were looking more confused by the second. 'I'm sorry for snapping, but you have to understand that music means as much to me as your Quidditch and pranking means to you. Wouldn't you defend Quidditch if someone said it was stupid?'

'Wouldn't you?' Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow at me and I immediately fall silent.

After clearing my throat, I nod. 'Yes. I would. My family, my sport and my music are the only things I would defend without hesitation.'

'What about your friends?' Peter asked, and I grinned, turning my head to the girls.

'They're my family.'

They all aw'd at me, and I felt like this had gotten to soppy all of a sudden. And that it was going to get much more soppy, for they all came over to me, and enveloped me in a group hug.

'Breakfast is ready… oh, what's happened?' Mrs M's voice broke us from our little sentimental hug, and we turned to her with smiles on our faces.

'Nothing.' Marlene replied, before we all hopped up from our seats and walked through to the kitchen.

Once again, the alluring smell of all the different foods washed over me, and I found myself inhaling deeply again.

'Help yourselves, I'm going to go and give this to Danielle.' She informed, picking up a tray which had some toast and tea on it, before she walked from the kitchen and upstairs to Marlene's little sister.

I made myself at home, and grabbed a plate from the cupboard - as had the other girls - before I noticed the boys standing awkwardly around the food. I lifted another four out of the cupboard and then handed the plates to them with a smile on my face.

I turned on my heel, and then started place food on my plate, such as toast, beans and bacon.

As soon as the food was on my plate, I headed back over to the living room - Mrs M was so laid back, she let us eat in the living room, a big difference from Mum and Dad, who made us eat in the dining room.

I pulled the pillow from behind me and sat it on my lap, before sitting the plate on top of it.

'So, did you enjoy yourself last night, Clair?' I asked, as I started to eat my breakfast.

'I did actually.' She replied, not looking up from her food.

I pursed my lips at her with this movement, but said nothing to her. I'd bring it up when we got home.

The rest of breakfast passed with little said. It wasn't until I was completely finished, and had put my plate into the sink that Mrs M came through to talk to Clair and I.

'Your brother is here.' She informed and then moved to go back upstairs and let me see him.

'Oh, it's you.' I answered as soon as I saw Craig, rolling my eyes as I stood up from my seat and walked over to him.

'What did you forget? Again?' He asked, reaching out and grabbing my arm to stop me in my tracks. I had all intentions to walk by him to get my things together.

I stared at him for a few seconds, before it dawned on me. With another roll of my eyes, I answered, 'A safety question.'

'Exactly, so answer this; what do I call you?'

'The Traitor.' I replied, pulling my arm from his grasp and crossing them over my chest.

'Yes, now ask me one.'

'Do you have any idea how much of an idiot you are?' I asked, raising my eyebrow at him, before pushing by him and heading to the bedroom. I heard Clair get up and follow me as well.

I had no doubts that he was my big brother… no one could be that damn protective beside him.

'He's only looking out for you.' Clair explained as she shut the door behind her.

'Does he need to be so suffocating when he does it?' I questioned, picking up my discarded dress and stuffing it into my small bag. I then reached my arm into it and tugged out the clothes I had packed to get changed into.

She didn't reply and just shrugged before I moved into the bathroom to get ready.

When I came back out, Clair was ready and after making sure we had everything in our bags, we headed back out to the living room, to where Craig was.

However, when I got there, the sight I saw shocked me to the core.

Craig was perched on the couch next to the four Gryffindor boys, as was laughing and - apparently - joking with them.

I turned my head to look at the girls, and they were looking at them with the same shocked expression that I had on my face.

I walked over to them and asked, 'What the hell happened? How did this come about? I was away for five seconds!'

Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, I was probably away for twenty minutes… I did take a while to get ready.

'I have no idea. He just saw them and started talking… apparently they've got a lot in common.'

I could've guessed that. Craig, whilst a Ravenclaw, was probably the most laid-back one. He had brains, but mostly used them for fun. He - like me - never liked Slughorn, and would always grumble about it. The only difference between him and I was that he argued with him over it. Every time Slughorn got his name wrong, Craig would stop him and correct him. He's probably the only one who's got as many detentions as me.

The problem with that was it was expected from me, apparently… being the only Gryffindor from a family of Ravenclaws.

'Right.' I whispered, before walking over to Craig and pulling on his arm. I felt like a meek little child.

'We going?' I enquired, nodding my head towards the door.

'What? Eh, aye, give me a minute.' He replied, before turning back to the boys and sharing another joke or adventure. They all burst into laughter and I ground my teeth together.

It wasn't because he was talking to them that I was mad, it was because he had come to pick me up, I went and got ready and was now waiting to leave. I could've had more time in my pyjamas and with the girls if I had known he was going to bond with James, Sirius, Remus and Peter.

'Seriously, Craig, move your arse.' I snapped, giving him a push and causing him to stumble off of his little perch.

'What're you in a rush for?' He asked, as he steadied himself and stood in front of me.

'I want to talk to Veronica about the wedding.' I lied. I just wanted to go home and see Donnie and Benjy, but I had a feeling that would sound weird to everyone else.

He grimaced; apparently he had heard too much about this wedding already.

'Aye, right, but seriously Kara, these guys are hilarious.'

I rolled my eyes.

'I'm sure the are.' I answered shortly, before I walked back over to the girls and gave them all a hug goodbye. I then grabbed Clair's hand and marched her over to Craig, holding out my hand and staring at him.

He grasped my hand, before turning to the boys and saying, 'See you later.'

'Yeah, bye.' I added, before I turned to Craig, who quickly Apparated us home.

As we landed on the front doorstep, I said, 'Y'know, it does get better the more you do it.'

Craig just laughed, before he pushed both of us into the house. I was greeted by a very enthusiastic Benjy, and had to fight my way through to the living room, seeing as he kept trying to get under my legs.

Donnie was laying on the back of the couch, but stood up when he saw me and came running over to the edge, purring madly. With one hand, I scratched behind his ear, before leaning down to stroke Benjy's head.

'So, how was it?' Veronica asked, sitting on the couch with Owen's arm around her.

I looked up at her, and tried to think how to answer that question. Yet, everything I thought of would certainly lead to questions, so instead, I settled for an easy answer.

'It was all right, I suppose.'

* * *

_**Did you all like the mentioning of Queen? I couldn't write a story based in the 70s and not mention them! xD**_

_**Review please?**_

_**~Charlotte.x**_


	11. Chapter XI

**_Hey all! I'm back from my hiatus! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I was stuck for a while on it, but it suddenly came to me and I couldn't stop writing; especially the last little "scene' that pretty much wrote itself and was completely unplanned! _**

**_Thank you for continuing to read this story! And I just realised that this has 46 favourites, and 78 follows! That's astonishing me! That many and we're only 11 chapters in! Amazing! Anyway, I won't ramble any longer! Hope you enjoy this chapter! :D_**

* * *

_~How dare you say that my behaviours unacceptable?  
So condescending unnecessarily critical,  
I have the tendency of getting very physical,  
So watch your step 'cause if I do you'll need a miracle.~_

_Maroon 5 - Harder to Breathe._

* * *

**Chapter XI.**

I woke up the day after Marlene's party, glad that I managed to have a decent night sleep. I had no idea what caused that dream of my endless falling, but I was just thankful that it did not happen tonight.

I sighed and left the bed after giving Donnie a few (dozen) claps. I walked downstairs after checking in on Clair's room to see if she was awake. Apparently she was for she was nowhere to be seen. When I got down stairs, she was sitting in the living room, munching away on some toast.

'Where the hell is everyone?' I asked, as I subconsciously clapped Benjy. The jealous mutt didn't sleep with me last night; he was upset because I had spent a night away from him. He'd gotten so used to sleeping with me that I had no idea just how he would cope when I went back to Hogwarts.

'Mum and Dad's away doing the shopping. And our brother dears are away back home with their significant others.' She answered and I just chuckled softly as I made my way over the kitchen and started making some toast.

'Did Ma' say when they were going to be back?' I questioned when my toast was finally made and I made my way to the living room to sit beside her. Benjy plonked himself down in front of me in order to watch me eat. I'd had dogs all my life so I was pretty used to it.

'Nah. They said that they were doing the shopping then had something to pick up. Don't ask me what though, I asked them and they just smiled and said nothing. It's been worrying me ever since.'

'You should be. That's what they told Owen and Craig when they fell pregnant with me apparently.'

She turned to look at me with wide eyes, the piece of toast raised to her lips. 'What?' Her voice was high pitched with shock and I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

'Don't worry, Sis, I don't think she's pregnant. But Christ, could imagine if she was? _Nine _of us in this house? We'd have to move!' I shivered at the very idea of having another young brother or sister, but shrugged it off. I knew my mum wasn't pregnant. She couldn't be.

'I don't even want to think about it.' Clair muttered and I just giggled before resuming eating my toast.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

'Where the hell have you guys been?' I demanded the minute my mum and dad were through the door, carrying a bag each. But as soon as they placed them on the floor, they fell over unbalanced and a couple more bags slipped out of it.

Undetectable Extension Charm. They normally packed the bags as normal and as soon as they got back to the car they placed them in the magical bags.

'Oh calm down, Kara, we weren't away long.' Mother chided and I just rolled my eyes and went to help them put the shopping away. I leaned down to grab a bag when my mum cried out, 'No!'

I jumped back from the bag like it burned me, and looked at them with wide eyes full of worry.

'What? What did I do?'

Mother sighed before she walked over to the bag and picked it up.

'Close your eyes, darling.' She ordered, and I stared at her dubiously for a minute or two. I then turned to my dad, wondering if he'll tell me what's going on before I needed to close my eyes.

Sadly, I didn't have that luck.

'Do as your mother says, pumpkin.' He added and I sighed before I did as I was told. My eyes fluttered shut and I waited to find out what the hell was going on. I was never asked to just randomly close my eyes! And what was up with shouting at me, telling me to get away from the bag?

Before I can think on it any longer, Mum is talking again, 'We couldn't give it to you because we celebrated Christmas at your Uncle Hamish's.'

'And it was out-of-stock as well, which didn't help.' Dad added and I frowned with my eyes still closed.

What the bloody hell were they talking about?

I heard the bag rustle slightly, and then Clair gasped. I heard her plate hit the table as she placed it there and then heard her move over to stand by my parents.

'Right, open your eyes, Kara.' Mother stated and I did just that. My eyes locked on her and when I saw what was in her hands, my eyes widened and my hand flew to my mouth as I gasped loudly.

'Holy Merlin!' I whispered breathlessly as I tumbled forward and reached out to take the broomstick from her hand. 'Is it...? It's a…?' I turned the handle over and saw the gold engraving of "Nimbus 1001". My eyes flew to my mum and dad, both of who were wearing wide grins on their face.

My eyes went back to the Nimbus before they went to my parent's once more, and I threw myself into their arms.

'Ah! Thank you! Thank you!' I squealed as I held them as tight as I could, the broomstick still in my hand and pressing into their back. When I released them, I held the broom in both my hands, staring at it with awe.

'Can you place a Disillusionment Charm on me? So I can try it out?' I asked, smiling widely at them, trying to convince them; well, convince Mum anyway. '_Please_!' I added when I saw her look of uncertainty. 'Only for half an hour!'

She sighed before she reached into her coat pocket and drew out her wand. She titled her head to the side before she matched out the backdoor, out to the garden. I followed her with a bounce in my step, excited that I was actually going to get to ride it! I got a Nimbus 1001 and I was getting to ride it! Here! In the little Muggle village that we lived in!

'Right, mount the broom,' Mum instructed and I did as she told me, swinging my leg over the broom so I was straddling it. I held it tightly between my hands and looked at her in expectation. She muttered the spell before tapping me with her wand, and then tapping the broom. She had to make sure that the broom was covered too; it would've looked weird if it was randomly flying about. Almost as weird as if I were flying it.

'Are you away yet?' Dad asked, and I giggled.

'No, but I'm just kicking off now.' I declared and I did just that. I pushed my feet hard into the grass and propelled myself upwards. Instead of landing back on the ground a moment later like I would have, the broom caught me and had me hovering above the ground. I giggled again and titled the handle upwards, effectively taking me into the sky.

I had heard rumours that the Nimbus 1001 could do near enough 100 miles per hour. Something that was a hard feat to find in a broomstick. It was amazing what they could do now; I couldn't bear to think what they would be able to do in a few years time. Maybe we could get one that would reach upwards of 150… maybe even 200! That would be the best thing ever!

But my mind wasn't on that idea for long, for the wind started to sweep through my brown hair, propelling it backwards and I leaned forward, making the broomstick go faster. I wanted to reach that top speed. I had never been this fast before. The same feeling that overcame me when I was riding started to appear; my heartbeat started to exhilarate, a smile pulled at my lips and my breath started coming out sharp and short. This was heaven. This was the best feeling in the world.

I felt as free as a bird up here. No gravity holding me down. It was… euphoric.

And I never wanted to come down.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I proudly carried my Nimbus into the train with me, my bag slung over my shoulder and Donnie's cage in the other hand. The Hogwarts trunk I had used to go to Uncle Hamish's was an old one, so got left at home, and the one I used was still at Hogwarts. Mum had offered to place an Undetectable Extension Charm on my bag so I could fit my broomstick in it, but I wasn't for having that. I was so happy and grateful that I got my dream broom, that I was going to show it off proudly.

I found the girls already in a compartment, talking amongst themselves. Yet, when I entered they all looked up and smiled at me. Until they noticed the broom.

'Who's is that?' Lily asked as I dumped my bag on the empty seat and let Donnie out of his cage to wander about the compartment as he pleased. Though, naturally, the minute I sat down, he jumped up onto my lap, curled up and went to sleep.

'Mine. Got it as a late Christmas present. It was out-of-stock for Christmas, so they had to wait till after New Years to get it.'

'Well look at that. You got your dream Christmas present after awll!' Mary exclaimed, nudging my shoulder with hers.

I giggled at her and started stroking Donnie, my eyes flickering up towards my broom, that I had on the railing above the seats before I sat down, with a small smile on my face.

I guess I did get my dream Christmas present after all.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

'Aren't you coming up to the Common Room?' Marlene asked and I turned back to look at them. They had all started heading straight for the Main Entrance but I had only one destination in mind. The Qudditch Pitch.

'Nah, I wanna give him a try without having to worry about a Disillusionment Charm wearing off. I'll see you in a bit though.' I muttered and they smiled at me. 'But here, take Donnie with you. I don't think he wants to watch me fly.' I stated as I handed his cage to Mary.

Without another word, I turned and continued my walk to the pitch, with my broom slung over my shoulder.

As soon as I arrived, I dumped my bag on the sidelines of the pitch and mounted my broom, kicked off and headed straight for the top so I was level with the highest seats in the stands and started to do circuits of the pitch.

By the time I got back down, the sky was a dark red and I had probably missed supper; which was a pain, because I was bloody starving. I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder, and rested my broom on my other one. I started to walk back up to the castle, hoping and praying that I wasn't past the curfew. But looking at the sky I knew I wouldn't be. It was still lightish.

'MacNeill!' A voice called and I stopped dead in my tracks, turning my head over my shoulder to see who it was. But I knew already. I knew that voice; I had heard it shout too often.

James Potter.

'Aye?' I asked, arching an eyebrow at the four boys that were jogging up towards me.

'Is that a Nimbus 1001?' James asked as he ogled my broom and I smirked to myself, pride swelling in my chest. I was already proud of it.

'Aye. Got it for my Christmas.'

'You didn't mention that at the party!' James admonished, and at the mention of the party my eyes flickered over to Sirius for a split second before they landed on James again. I wasn't sure if Sirius had noticed, but I hoped that he hadn't. I didn't need him - or anyone really - bringing it up.

'I didn't get it till after the party. We were up at my Uncle Hamish's for Christmas, so I wasn't allowed to get it in front of them as their Muggles.' I informed as I turned and resumed walking, the four boys falling into pace with me. 'And it was out-of-stock so I couldn't get it as soon as we got back.'

'Can I hold it?' He asked and I giggled before bringing it away from my shoulder and passing it over to him.

'It's a "her", just so you know. Not an "it".' I informed and he just raised his eyebrow at me. 'She hasn't got a name yet, though.'

'How about Lily?' James asked and I stared at him incredulously for a split second before I descended into laughter.

'I am _not _naming my broom after one of my best friend! And you're really sounding like a stalker.' I added, grabbing ahold of my broom when he handed it back to me, a small pout on his lips.

The other three started laughing as well, and I just grinned as we made our way back to the Common Room. I really couldn't see why I was so quick to judge these four. They were… nice.

'So, I guess that means I'm trying out for the Quidditch team next year, then.' I stated and they all turned to look at me with raised eyebrows. 'What? You were the one that wanted me to!' I accused, pointing my finger at James.

'Yeah, but you said you wouldn't do it.' Sirius reminded and I bit my lip for a second as I remembered that. I hadn't really told them about the deal I had made with Mum and Dad. They hadn't really brought it up when they gave me the broom, but I knew that they would remember about it and ask me when the trials came up.

'I know, but I made a deal with my mum and dad, if they got me the broom, I'd try out for the team. I'm sure it's not the reason they bought me it, but I said it and I never go back on my word, so… I guess I'm trying out for the Quidditch team!' I finished with a wider smile on my face as I explained this. They shook their heads at me and I did nothing but continue to grin like an idiot all the way back to the Common Room; even as we talked about other stuff.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

'Clair! I did not come into the Ravenclaw Common Room to hear you moan about whether you like Dillon or Remus more!' I snapped, standing from her bed and throwing my hands in the air in my sheer, bloody exasperation. She told me she wanted to talk to me, I expected it to be of something of _real _importance. But no. She started harping on about Remus and then Dillon, and how she had a good time with him at the Ball, but she still liked Remus and blah, blah, _blah_. 'I don't even do this with my friends! I am sure as hell not going to do it with my little sister! You shouldn't even be thinking about relationships!'

'Oh God, you're sounding like Craig!' She hissed and I grimaced at that. Maybe the last sentence was a bit far but it was true! How serious and real could a relationship be at 14 years old be? It would only end in disaster, and I did not want my sister going through said disaster.

'I'm only looking out for you, Clair. I think it's foolish how desperate you seem to be to have a boyfriend. Your life will not suddenly become whole and everything brighter.' I sighed and turned my head away from her for a second before I looked her back in the eye. 'But if you _do _want my advice, I'll say this; you seem to get on well with Dillon and he seems to be more into you than Remus is.' _Or ever will be_, I added in my head, but I didn't want to say that to her. That may've been too low a blow. 'See what happens with Dillon, he seems like a nice person, and he's a Gryffindor too, seeing as that seems to be your personal preference.' I gave her a wink. 'But just… slow down, will you? You have years to find someone to love, you don't need to do it right now.'

I walked over and sat back down beside her, hoping to God that she decided to take my advice, and then let the matter drop. I really didn't want to be stuck talking about some boys that she had a crush on.

'I saw you walking back to the Common Room with Remus and that.' She declared after a minute or two and I believe it or not, I actually managed to stifle my sigh! I was actually quite proud of that!

'Yeah, I went down to the Quidditch Pitch to try my new Nimbus out and they were there. They caught up with me when I was finished and heading back to the castle.'

'And you still don't have any idea why they've suddenly decided to start talking to you and Mary? I mean, they talked to Lily and Marlene because well… have you seen them? And maybe to Dorcas a little, but they very rarely talked to you. And now, you're suddenly their favourite people.'

'You don't need to explain that to me, Clair. I know all about that. And no, I still don't have any idea why they've suddenly started talking to me and Mary. And to be honest with you, I don't really care. Their conversations are always good so I'm not going to protest. I mean, it's nice to have them inside the tent spitting out, than outside spitting in.' I reasoned and she just smiled at me. It was true. I had never really been at the brunt of any of their jokes, but I knew people who were - namely Snape - and I had no intentions of ever getting that way with them. I doubt it would, but it was always nice to know that they were closer to me now, and would be less inclined to make a fool of me in front of the entire school. Well, I _hoped_ I was close enough to them that they would be less inclined to make a fool of me in front of the entire school.

I leaned behind her and looked at the clock that was sitting on her beside cabinet and I sighed.

'Look, Clair, I'm gonna have to head back okay? I've got homework to do.' I murmured, standing from my place on her bed and picking up the bag I had discarded after came into her dorm.

'Aye, so do I.'

I gave her a quick hug before I descended the stairs into the sitting area of the Common Room. A couple of people said "hello" to me, but I didn't stop to chat. I just replied with a quick "hello" as well and made my way out of the Ravenclaw Common Room.

'Oh thank God!' Someone exclaimed the minute I was out of the door, but before I could react, the owner of the voice was sprinting by me and into the Common Room.

I turned to look at the eagle knocker.

'What was the question?'

'_My tail is soft and useful. I'm born as bright as gold. I make the snow look grey and dull. And my blood is pure and cursed.' _The knocker informed and I scoffed. He could not get that?

'That's easy. I'm a unicorn.' I answered, and immediately the door swung open. 'Sorry, I didn't need in.' I added and it shut as quickly as it had opened.

I then turned and walked down the corridor that would take me back to the Gryffindor Common Room; the fact that someone out there could not get that simple riddle baffled me. I had to admit, it was one of the easier ones. The knocker had a habit for doing that; every so often it would spout something so easy and it would trick people. They would be so used to complicated questions they would not believe the answer was that obvious. Maybe that's what happened to the random person outside. Maybe they were but a First Year and had no idea that it did that.

I had just turned a corner when suddenly I went flying into someone's chest. I managed to steady myself before I fell to the ground, but when I looked up, my apology died on my lips.

'Oh.'

Standing in front of me was the greasy, black haired Severus Snape. His face was pulled into a sneer as he looked at me and I had no idea why. He had the exact same blood as me! Right down the Pure-Blood mother and the Muggle father.

'Where are they?'

'What? Where are _who_?' I questioned, looking around myself. We were completely alone and no one had passed me on my way here.

'Potter and Black! And the other two that follow them around.'

At his dismissal of Remus and Peter my chin shot up.

'The "other two" are Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew! Who are wonderful people who don't go about sneaking after other people! What the hell is wrong with you?' I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest and staring at the dishevelled boy. A part of me had always felt sorry for him; he's poor, he gets bullied and he gets beaten by his father. But that was no excuse for how… rude he always was.

'I know they're planning something!'

'Good! You'll find out when the rest of the school does.' I muttered, storming by him but when I heard his muttered "filthy Half-Blood", I snapped. I whirled around, pulling out my wand and pointing it at him.

'What did you just say?' I seethed, stalking towards him with my wand raised and pointed at his face. He had quickly whipped his out and was pointing it at me as well, but I was not afraid. 'It's a shame you never show this side around Lily, I'm sure she'd _love_ to see it.'

At the mention of Lily, something passed over his face and before I knew what was happening, he had pocketed his wand and had stormed passed me, barging into my shoulder as he went. I cursed and kept my wand out just for good measure when I suddenly heard laughing.

Appearing from nowhere was James, Sirius, Peter and Remus. The first three were laughing loudly with laughter, and Remus just had an amused smile on his face.

'Where the _hell _did you four come from?' I asked, but I did not get an answer. They walked up towards me, and did something that shocked me completely. James and Sirius threw an arm over my shoulders and started steering me towards the direction of our Common Room.

'Where've you been hiding that spark, MacNeil?' James asked and I turned to look at him with my confusion written all over my face.

"'Spark"?' I repeated and it was Sirius' turn to reply.

'Yeah! That was brilliant the way you dealt with Snape. Most people just walk on by him, hardly anyone stops to put the slimy git in his place.'

'Place?' I whispered, looking down to the ground for a split second before I looked back up to them, hoping they didn't notice it. I didn't think Snape needed to be put in a place; taken down a peg or two, yes, but never put in a place where he was below someone. He just needed to step off his high horse and realise that everybody was more than their blood; not just Lily.

'Seriously, MacNeil, you shouldn't hide that.' Sirius informed and I turned to grin at him.

'I don't. You just haven't known me long enough to know that.' I shot back, and by this point we had reached the portrait hole. I told the Fat Lady the password and then proceeded to climb through the hole before any of the boys could reply to that.

I dumped my bag beside the girls and turned to see the four of them eventually coming through the hole as well.

'Well, let me rephrase that MacNeil,' Sirius started, walking over so he was standing in front of me, towering over me. Was he always this tall? 'Let the people who don't know you see it; everyone loves a spark.'

He winked at me before turning around and heading over to the little corner where his friends were sitting waiting on him. I could feel my cheeks heat up as I turned back to the girls and sat down on the floor next to Mary's chair.

'What was that about?' Lily asked, casting a disapproving look over to their corner, but I simply shook my head in reply, a small smile stretched upon my lips.

* * *

**_Ooh! What do you think of that? Let me know in a review! _**

**_And if any of you are fans of the Johnny Depp film Dark Shadows, I have started writing a story called "This Is Gonna Hurt". It's a Barnabas/OC story. So if you're interested in that, check it out! _**

**_And I got rid of the chapter titles, I seemed to spend more time coming up with titles that actually writing the chapter, so I gave up with them. ;p_**

**_Don't forget to review guys! And I'll see you next week! The chapter's already written (and it's my favourite so far. ;p)_**

**_~Charlotte.x_**


	12. Chapter XII

**_Hello everyone! Glad to see you back for this chapter! Hope you like it! I had a LOT of fun writing it!  
_**

**_Thank you so much for reading this and reviewing it, it really means a lot to me!_**

* * *

_~If there's a bustle in your hedgerow,  
Don't be alarmed now.  
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen.  
Yes there are two paths you can go by,  
But in the long run,  
There's still time to change the road you're on.~_

_Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven._

* * *

**Chapter XII.**

I couldn't believe how much time had passed. We had been back at Hogwarts for near enough two months. It was now just a few weeks before the Easter holidays and once again I was eager for that. Not that we would be going home; with OWLs this year the teachers really amped up the homework, and the girls and I decided it would be best to just stay at Hogwarts and try and get as much of it done. We had a lot of studying to do and I didn't want to mess it up.

But the holidays weren't for another week or two, so we still had classes to go to. Well, after lunch we would have. Mary and I had made agreements to meet at the library and after picking up a few books, head down the the Great Hall for food.

I walked into the library and scanned it for a second before I frowned when I realised that Mary was nowhere to be seen.

'Ms. Fisher? Have you seen Mary?' I asked and she turned to look at me with a scowl on her face; mind you, she always had a scowl on her face.

'No.' She replied shortly and I frowned before I turned and walked from the library. I was walking down a corridor when I noticed the long, black hair of Mary.

'Mary!' I shouted, but she did not reply or even stop and turn around. My frown deepened and I shouted again, 'Mary!'

I started running, weaving in and out of the people there and ran up to her. I grabbed ahold of her hand and whirled her around to face me.

'Mary! Where were you? We were supposed to meet at the library.' I informed but her eyes weren't focused on me. They were focused on a small group of First Years in front of us. 'Mary!' I shook her sharply and her eyes landed on me, before narrowing into slits.

'Let go of me.' She hissed and the frown on my face deepened. What the hell was happening here?

'Mary!' I shook her again but suddenly I had to let her go, for with her free hand she had reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. She pointed it at me, her face sneering at me and I gasped taking a step back and away from her.

'Leave me alone!' She ordered and before I could do anymore, she stormed past me, bumping into my shoulder in the process. When I turned back around after watching her, I noticed Mulciber, Avery and a few other Slytherins watching Mary with smirks on their faces. Narrowing my eyes, I broke into a run and headed straight for the Great Hall. I ran up to where the girls were sitting, and noticed with relief that the boys were there as well.

'You gotta help me.' I stated the minute I was beside them. They all turned to look at me and I continued, 'Mary's just threatened me with her wand and told me to leave her alone. That's not my Mary. And when she stormed away I saw Mulciber and Avery looking too pleased with themselves.'

They didn't need telling twice. The four boys leapt from their seats, as well as Lily, Dorcas and Marlene and we headed out of the Great Hall with their food and bags forgotten. We headed in the direction where I had saw Mary disappear to and noticed her walking behind the same group of First Years, her wand drawn.

'Peter. Go and get Dumbledore.' I instructed, and after looking at James and Sirius for approval, he turned and headed in the direction of the Headmaster's office.

'How are we going to deal with this?' I asked and I turned to look at them, hoping to see some great idea brewing on their faces. However, I had no such luck.

'I wouldn't put it past Mulciber and Avery to use a Unforgivable,' Sirius hissed, as we started to gain distance on Mary. I decided I couldn't let this go on any longer, because she was getting dangerously close to those First Years.

'Mary!' I shouted but she didn't turn around to face me. 'Mary MacDonald!' I screeched, breaking into a run and grabbing ahold of her wrist once more. She whirled around to face me, her wand ready and pointing in my face and deciding it was best for her, I reached up and slapped the wand out of her grasp, sending it hurtling to the ground with a clatter.

'Let go of me!' She hissed and I knew I couldn't. I knew she'd do something that she wouldn't normally do if I let her go.

'Not a chance.' I replied before I craned my head to find Lily. 'Lily, cast _Immobulus _on her! Hurry!' I ordered and watched as she pulled her wand from her robes and pointed it at Mary before she uttered the curse. Mary fell still and I caught her in my arms as she collapsed onto me.

'Where the hell is Dumbledore?' I growled, and then I heard a chuckle from behind me.

'I am right here, Ms. MacNeil. Mr. Pettigrew said it was something of great importance?'

'Aye, my friend Mary has been cursed, sir.' I readjusted my hold on her, so I could support her more, thankfully Sirius moved over and helped me hold her unmoving body upright.

'It seems like a simple Immobilising Curse, Ms. MacNeil, surely you know how to counteract that. Your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher has spoken highly of your talent.'

'I can counteract that curse sir, after all, I was the one that told Lily to put it on her. But she's been acting odd. Mary is kind and nice and gentle, she would not be stalking first years and threatening me with her wand; watch.' I pulled my wand from my pocket and pointed it at Mary, muttering the countercurse.

Her eyes fluttered open and then after a minute she started thrashing in Sirius and I's grasp, telling us to let her go and that she had to get the First Years.

Dumbledore hummed in response before he leaned down and looked Mary in the eye, 'Tell me, Ms. MacDonald, what do you need to do to the First Years? Why do you need to get to them?'

'I need to put them in their place. They're talking as if Mudbloods are equal; they're acting as if Mudbloods are the same as us.'

'You see?' I exclaimed as I tightened my grip on her as she started to squirm more frantically.

'I do indeed, Ms. MacNeil. Do you think you could bring her to my office?' He asked and as she grew more ferocious I realised that no, I could not. Not without placing a curse back on her.

'Uh, give me a minute.' I muttered and before any of them could stop me, I placed the Immobilising Curse on her once more. She immediately fell still and Sirius and I tightened our grasp on her. 'Now I can. With your help, Sirius.'

He didn't say anything but merely nodded, and when Dumbledore turned to go to his office, Sirius and I followed.

'The rest of you may return to your classes. Ms. MacNeil and Mr. Black will update you shortly.' He declared and the others didn't even think about protesting. After all, you don't protest with Dumbledore's orders.

When we finally got to his office, we sat Mary down in a seat and then sat down ourselves. This was the first time I had ever been in Dumbledore's office, and I was nervous. Extremely so. But as I looked over to Sirius, and saw him reclined in his chair, his legs splayed out and looking particularly comfortable, it was clear it wasn't the first time he had wound up here. And I doubted I would be his last.

'So, what happened?' Dumbledore asked, his bright blue eyes peering over his half-moon spectacles, and I found myself telling him everything. Mary and I's agreement to meet in the Library, asking Mrs. Fisher if she had seen her, catching her following the First Years, running to the girls and boys and telling them to help, and then telling Peter to go and get him. It didn't take long, and I was sure I was finished in about ten or fifteen minutes.

But Sirius realised something I had forgotten, and voiced it, 'And she saw Mulciber and Avery watching Mary; looking proud of themselves.'

'Aye! That's right! That's half the reason I ran to get my friends, because I was scared that they had placed a curse on her or something…' I trailed off with a gulp when I looked over to my friend and saw her still frozen; unmoving. 'I mean, it seems a lot like the Imperius Curse, don't you think, Professor?'

He looked at me with a straight face, giving nothing away.

'Well, don't you?' I prompted and when he still didn't answer I ground my teeth together and crossed my arms over my chest, turning my head away from him.

'Those are serious accusations, Ms. MacNeil.' He eventually stated and suddenly, I saw red.

'Aye? Well, I hate to break it to you, but if she had actually carried out whatever she was told to do, who knows what would've happened! Because it wouldn't have been Mulciber or Avery that got the blame, would it? No! It would be Mary! And she'd be expelled or sent to bloody Azkaban, and I'm not going to let two wannabe Death Eaters do that to my friend!' I exploded, and when I finished, I found myself slamming my fist against his table.

My whole body was tight as I waited for him to answer me; to let me know what he was going to do. I didn't tear my eyes away from him once, and continued to stare at him, my lips pressed into a thin line.

'Very well, Ms. MacNeil. Take Ms. MacDonald to the Hospital Wing. I'm afraid if it _is _the Imperius Curse - which I am sure it is - she'll have to go to St. Mungo's for treatment. But I fear she will not be back before the Easter Holidays, they like to make sure that it hasn't done any damage.'

I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Sirius, to find him watching me with a smirk on his face.

When we lifted Mary up, he leaned across and whispered in my ear, 'There's that spark, MacNeil.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I was allowed to stay with Mary until the Mediwitches came to take her away to St. Mungo's. Madame Pomfrey said it _was _the Imperius Curse that was put on her, and that she had no way of taking it off of her; she was a talented Healer, don't get me wrong, just… not used to dealing with Dark Magic so didn't trust herself. The Healers at St. Mungo's got those type of curses all the time what with the War. If anyone could help her, it was the people from St. Mungo's; I knew that much.

I wandered back to the Common Room and as soon as I was through the portrait hole, I walked straight over to the girls and boys that had looked up the minute I walked in. Sirius was told to go back to class as soon as he helped me to the Hospital Wing, I pretty much told Madame Pomfrey that I wasn't going anywhere.

'What happened?' Lily asked as I sat down and rested my head against the first shoulder I could; which just so happened to be Sirius'.

'They took her to St. Mungo's. It was the Imperius Curse that was placed upon her, and they have no idea if they'll be able to take it off of her without it causing some serious damage.' I answered, kicking my shoes off with frustration, my glare sent towards my lap. I couldn't look at them. None of them.

'Was it Mulciber and Avery?' Marlene prompted and I clenched my jaw together at the mention of them.

'Well they are the only ones that were watching her! And have you seen the way they act…' I trailed off when something occurred to me. Something I didn't like one bit. 'Why don't you ask your precious Snivellus, Lily? Surely he would know? He's friends with them!'

Her eyes narrowed marginally. 'He wouldn't do something like that!'

Everyone looked at her in disbelief, Sirius, James and I scoffing as well. I lifted my head from Sirius' shoulder and glared at her.

'When are you going to wake up and see what a horrible person he is?' I snapped and before she had a chance to reply, I went on, all my anger at this situation coming out; and sadly Lily was getting the brunt of it. 'I swear to it Lily, if something serious happens to Mary, your little friend won't get away with it. I don't care if he didn't cast the curse, I know for a fact he knows about it; and if he's your best friend, surely he would come and tell you! Surely he wouldn't want it to happen to a friend of yours; but that's right. He thinks you're his and only his!'

'Of course he would tell me-'

'Would he? Okay, hands up if he's ever said something bad to you; even though you're Lily's friend. Not you four! You bring it on yourself!' I added as a second thought and watched how they grinned and nodded along with my statement.

Slowly, Marlene, Dorcas and I raised our hands, 'And I know he has done so with Mary; I've been there.' I dropped my hand by my side and sighed, 'Lily, you need to wake up! He's not good news. And I'm kind of ashamed you're not even believing that when Mary's at St. Mungo's with the chance of something serious happening to her.'

I scoffed and shook my head, before standing up and picking my shoes off the floor.

'I'm turning in.' I muttered before I headed to the stairs for the dorm, and even though I just wanted to sleep. I couldn't. My mind kept painting pictures of all the things that could go wrong with my dear friend.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

'So, that's it? You asked him a couple of questions and that's it? He said it was _nothing_! She wouldn't be at St. Mungo's if it was nothing, Lily!' I snapped, and when I realised that she wasn't going to change how she felt about him; about everything, I stood from my seat at the Great Hall and picked my bag up. I slung it over my shoulder and stormed away from the Hall, without a "goodbye" to any of them.

I had no idea where I was heading but I wanted to head somewhere that no one would pester me. However, I was in for no such luck, because as soon as I turned the corner, I came face to face with Mulciber and Avery.

They regarded me for a minute before they started chuckling, 'How's the dear friend?'

My eyes narrowed into slits and before they could react, I had pulled my wand out. 'Why are you still here? Shouldn't you have been expelled by now? Or locked in Azkaban?'

'Dumbledore can't expel us… he has no evidence.' Avery smirked, looking so very proud with himself and I couldn't have that. The both of them looked like they had gotten away from the worst crime in the world, and they knew it. It was like a guilty man being found innocent; happy they fooled the system.

I ground my teeth together as they moved to past me, but I couldn't allow that either. They had put an Unforgivable on my friend! My best friend; my sister!

'_Everte Statum!' _I exclaimed, pointing my wand at Mulciber, who suddenly went flying back and crashed against the wall. '_Levicorpus!' _Avery was suddenly hoisted upwards, dangling in the air as if something had wrapped around his ankle.

'Touch my friend again, it'll be the last thing you do.' I warned, before I muttered the countercurse and watched with pleasure as he fell to the ground in a heap of limbs. Both Avery and Mulciber stood up and drew their wands, and pointed them at me. They looked like they were going to cast something on me, when another voice spoke up.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you.' I turned my head to find Sirius looking at them deadly, his wand drawn as well and I saw the fear that flickered through their eyes when he appeared. They sneered at us before they pocketed their wands and turned and hurriedly walked away from us. I watched them until I could no longer see them, and then turned back to Sirius.

'Well, they're afraid of you.' I declared with a smile on my face as I pocketed my wand and saw that he did the same.

'I wouldn't be surprised if Regulus has told them what I can do.' He muttered before he finally looked down at me. He smirked. 'So, you've really listened to my advice. Everywhere I turn, there are sparks flying from you.'

I felt the blush creeping up my neck and cheeks, and I shook my head. 'Things have just called for them. Though, I'm still shocked I was _that_ rude to Dumbledore.'

'Don't worry about it, I'm sure he saw the same spark that I saw.' He dismissed, and I'm sure I felt my face getting warmer.

'So, what're you doing here? I saw James, Remus and Peter in the Great Hall.' I stated, and his face suddenly fell. I closed my eyes for a second, thinking that this was just my luck. We were getting on all right, I say something and ruin it. Jesus bloody Christ. 'Look if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to.' I informed, turning away from him with the intentions of heading back to the Common Room, yet, his voice stopped me.

'You said you were a listener, right?' He asked, and I turned back around to face him, a smile on my lip as I nodded.

'Aye.'

'Right… well, I think I need someone to listen. Come on.' He took a deep breath before he lead me outside, and before long I realised we were heading for the Quidditch Pitch.

We sat up the top and I turned to him, 'Right. Talk.'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

It turned out that he had sent Snape down a passage in the Whomping Willow, that led to the Shrieking Shack which was haunted, and dangerous. Everyone knew how dangerous it was; the howls that came from that place would chill you to the bone. It made shivers run down my spine at the mere thought of it.

Fortunately, James was there to rescue him but Snape - being the little pessimist that he is - thought James was in on it. Either way, none of his friends were talking to him because of it.

'Well, you have to admit, you did a bad thing.' I declared, before I reached out and placed my hand over his. 'But from what I've seen of you, you act on impulse; you don't really think things through until it's too late. And whilst that doesn't excuse your behaviour, your friends should at least understand that.' I moved my hand off of his and nudged his shoulder with mine, a smirk on my face. 'They're probably just feeling that you deserve some punishment because Dumbledore let you away with none.'

A smirk pulled at his lips and he chuckled, 'Maybe.' He chuckled again. 'Thanks MacNeil.'

I bit my lip and turned away from him for a moment. 'Y'know, you _could _call me Kara.' I muttered, keeping my eyes straight ahead, watching the Ravenclaw Quidditch team practice. Because Clair was on it, they realised that I wouldn't go about spying on them. In fact, we hadn't even noticed they had started until someone shouted at us to duck for a rogue Bludger.

'Kara? Is that your name? I had no idea.' He joked and when I turned back to him with a mock-glare on my face, he winked at me.

'That's not funny, y'know. I like my name and, as much as I love my surname, it's annoying getting called it all the time.' I turned away from him for a second before a smirk pulled at my lips. 'And beside. If you start calling me Kara, I'll start calling you Sirius, and that's good for you… it can't be pleasant having the constant reminder of the family you hate so much.'

'How'd you know that? Don't tell me you're secretly a member of the Fan Club?' He looked mortified at the idea, and I giggled.

'No! But whereas _I _can blend into the background and have no one notice me, _you _cannot! Everybody knows everything about you, Sirius. It's kinda scary. I sat behind Annie Turner last year in Defence, and I had to listen to her go on and go about how your favourite colours was navy, that you had tried firewhiskey before, that as soon as you can you're moving out, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!' I rolled my eyes as my voice got more mocking with each "blah".

'You seemed to have paid attention, though.' He raised his eyebrow at me with a grin on his lips.

'Well, when you've got a stupid teacher yattering on about stuff you already now, you tend to eavesdrop. Not to mention, they talked about the same rubbish over and over again, because they didn't have any new information on you… it's scary Sirius. You should do something about them.'

He scoffed. 'Don't you think I've tried? Contrary to what you dear friend Lily thinks, I hate it. I mean, I love a certain amount of attention as much as the next person, but when I want it, I'll find away to get it. Whether it's a prank or something else. But I hate being… followed around like some royalty. I hate my family because they see us Blacks as something higher than everyone else.'

'All they care about is the pretty face.' I repeated quietly, and he turned to look at me with an odd expression on his face.

I smiled at him and just as he was about to say something, someone cut him off.

'Oi! Padfoot!'

We turned to see James, Remus and Peter waving Sirius down from the stands, and with a smirk I turned back to him.

'See, the punishment is over. You've had to spend time with a nobody, I think they think you've suffered enough.' I said, standing up and putting my bag over my shoulder.

'Hey! You're not a nobody!' He replied fiercely, and I smiled softly.

'Glad you think so.'

He said nothing else and started heading down the stands, but when he realised I wasn't following him, he stopped and turned back.

'Aren't you coming?'

'Nah. I'll wait on Clair to finish.' I explained, waving to my sister who was still flying about the pitch. He nodded his head and went to turn away before I stopped him.

'Sirius!' He turned back to look at me, an eyebrow raised. 'Apologise to them. It'll make you seem like you regret what you done. Even though the only thing you regret is the repercussions and not the act, just say you're sorry.' I advised and he stared at me for a second or two - though it seemed to last an eternity - before he smiled, nodded his head and thanked me, before turning and running down to his friends.

I watched them leave, all of them bouncing off each other, acting as if nothing had happened between them before sitting down on my seat once more.

And just as they exited the pitch, I was positive I saw Sirius' head turn towards me for a second, before James wrapped his arm around his shoulder, and gathered his attention once more.

* * *

_**Now, that last scene really wrote itself. I had no idea about that, but I started writing and this is where my Muse led me, so follow it I must! :D**_

_**Don't forget to review and let me know what you think!**_

_**Until next time!**_

_**~Charlotte.x**_


	13. Chapter XIII

**_Hello! Do you remember me? I'm back from the impromptu hiatus I took. I've been writing non-stop. Some for published stories, some for ones still to be published. Though my main aim was to finish "Patience; Book One", which is my Guns N' Roses story, and I did! So woo hoo!_**

**_But I'm back now, and I'm just posting chapters when they are written. No idea when the next update will be. Just thought that I'd let you know that! I'm being more fluid and flexible, writing when inspiration strikes and not sticking to a schedule - schedules suck!_**

**_Anyway, I won't make this longer than necessary! Here is the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it! ;D_**

* * *

_~You say our love is like dynamite,  
Open your eyes 'cause it's like fire and ice  
Well you're killing me,  
Your love's a guillotine,  
Why don't you just set me free?~_

_Mötley Crüe - Too Young To Fall In Love._

* * *

**Chapter XIII.**

Mary still wasn't back from St. Mungo's and I thought that Dumbledore's presumption was going to be correct; she wouldn't be until _after _the Easter holidays. I couldn't believe it. I wanted my best friend by my side. I wanted her there. It's true when they say you don't know what you've got until it's gone; I never really took Mary for granted, per se, but now that she wasn't here _at all_, I could finally see how much I depended on her. Even though I still had Dorcas, Marlene… and yes, Lily, they would never mean as much to me as Mary MacDonald did.

Another thing that was infuriating me was the fact that Mulciber and Avery weren't expelled or even suspended! They got one or two detentions, and that was it. How was that a proper punishment for what they had done? That's what I wanted to know!

I hadn't been eating much since everything had happened. I had lost my appetite, and right now, I was currently poking my dinner around with my fork. Classes had thankfully finished for the Easter holidays today, and we were in the Great Hall waiting for everyone to finish before we headed back to the Common Room.

'Kara?' A voice asked, and my eyes refocused and I dropped my fork onto my plate. I turned around to see who was calling me and I saw Benedict Grayson standing behind me, his hands fidgeting with the straps on his bag.

'Benedict? What's wrong?' I turned my body around to face him completely as I asked the question, but I had a feeling I knew what was wrong. He was worried about Mary. Ever since the Ball, they had sort of became a couple and he was probably looking for updates. I couldn't believe myself! Here I was worrying about her, and I forgot that there were other people worrying about her as well.

'Have you heard anything?'

'Aye.' I turned back around and started to dig through my bag. I found the letter that Mary's mum had sent me, and turned back around to face him. I handed it to him. 'That's from her mum. You can give it a read over; it'll tell you all you need to know.' I smiled warmly at him.

'I can't do that. She wrote it to you and-'

I cut him off, 'Benedict, Mary cares for you. Sure, her mother doesn't know that or she would've sent you a letter, but she does, and you deserve to know what's happening. There is nothing about my personal life in it, or anything that you should not know. Take it, read it as many times as you need to, and give it back to me. Hell, you can copy it if you want, just… _read it_ because I can't talk about it!'

My voice was probably sounding hysterical right now, and maybe that's the reason why he nodded and turned away from us and walks out of the Great Hall. I turned around to face my friends once more, when I felt an arm around my shoulder. I craned my head and saw that it was Sirius that had wrapped his arm around me, but I didn't really mind, because it was comforting. I just needed _some _form of comfort from _anyone_. But lately it seemed that it was always Sirius that was giving it to me.

As I looked around the table, I saw the girls looking at us strangely, but I didn't think on it much. I picked my fork back up and started poking my food around again.

'You have to eat something, Kara.' Lily declared and I looked at her as Sirius removed his arm from around me, after giving my shoulder a squeeze with his hand.

'I don't want to eat anything. I'm not feeling hungry.'

'Look, I know you're worried about Mary. I understand that. But you've lost a bit of weight, you're not looking healthy and you _need to eat_.' The last statement was emphasised when she pushed a plate full of chips towards me. They were golden and when she pushed the tomato sauce towards me as well, I sighed.

'I haven't lost weight.' I muttered and when I saw her dubious look, I frowned. Without thinking about the fact that four boys were sat around me, I straightened my back and lifted my shirt up to my chest, so only my stomach was showing.

_Huh_.

I had lost weight. Not a lot, I had always been curvy, but I ran, did horse riding and played Quidditch, so I was slim as well. Two weeks wasn't enough for a drastic change, but enough for it to show a bit. I lowered my top and looked at the food again. I grabbed ahold of the tomato sauce and squeezed it over my chips, before I started munching on them.

'No wonder you've been feeling more tired than usual.' Dorcas chimed in, and I shrugged. My appetite still wasn't back at all, and I had a feeling it wouldn't be until Mary came back, but because of they amount of worry they were showing, I decided I would force it down.

It couldn't do me much harm anyway.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Nothing really happened during the Easter holidays, except Mary coming back. Well, I'm sure more things happened than that, but it went out of my head the second I saw her bubbly face at the entrance to the Great Hall.

We were walking down for breakfast one day - it was the 15th of April, I would always remember that - and she was just standing there, as if she was waiting for us. I guess she was waiting for us really.

I was chatting away to Lily about a Potions essay that was due after the Easter holidays, when my eyes caught something at the entrance to the Great Hall.

'Mary?' I asked, my hands flying to my mouth as I caught sight of my best friend standing there, looking at us with a wide smile upon her face; everything looking perfectly… normal about her. I couldn't stop myself, I threw myself into her arms, pulling her tight against me as I laughed loudly. 'You're back! You're back!' I repeated over and over again, and when I heard her laugh, I held her tighter.

I was aware that everyone else had rushed over to us, and were cooing over Mary, but I wasn't letting her go just yet.

Eventually, I did let her go, though my wide smile was still plastered across my face.

'I still can't believe it!' I whispered, as tears of pure joy and happiness filled my eyes.

'Oh, calm down, I wasn't away for that long!' She replied with a roll of her eyes, and hearing her accent again has me smiling even wider. A tear fell down my cheek, and a thumb was immediately there to wipe it away. I looked up and saw that Sirius was standing beside me, grinning widely at me.

'We should hold a party for you, Mary.' He suggested and my eyes lit up as I whipped my head back around to face her.

'Aye! Let's do that! Let's throw a "Welcome Back" party in the Common Room! Tonight!' I exclaimed, looking around the small group of my friends that were standing watching and smiling at Mary. They started to bubble at that idea but as usual, Lily had to dash it.

'We can't! If we do we won't be able to throw one for your birthday in two days, Kara!' She reminded me and I glared at her. I didn't want a bloody party! What did I deserve one for? Just because I got another year older? And yet here was Mary, had survived an Unforgivable Curse and she wasn't getting a party! Like hell was I going to allow that!

'It's your birthday in two days?' Sirius voice drew me from my thoughts and I turned to him and nodded.

'Hmm. 14th of April. I'll be sixteen.' I answered and his grin widened, and I returned it for a split second before I turned back to Lily, 'But I don't care about having a party! If anyone deserves one, it's Mary! Not me!' I stated and she just rolled her eyes.

'What about we split the party? It could be a "Welcome Back" party for Mary and a birthday party for Kara. Everyone wins, everyone's happy.' James reasoned and I smiled widely as I nodded my head in agreement with his idea.

'I love it! Let's do that!'

'But-' Lily quickly started but stopped. We all looked at her, and I could see what she was doing. She wasn't happy about being outsmarted by James Potter. As we continued to stare at her, she started to grow more and more annoyed and impatient, before she snapped, 'Fine! We'll do Potter's idea! Now can we go? I'm starving.'

Without waiting for anyone's reply, she turned on her heel and headed into the Great Hall for breakfast.

I smiled at Mary, before I threw my arm across her shoulders and steered her into the Great Hall as well. Most people smiled at her as she walked by them, telling her they were happy to see her back. She turned to me every now and then and rolled her eyes, not happy being the centre of attention for the first time. I laughed at her and when we sat down at the table, she leaned over and whispered in my ear.

'Have I talked t' half of those people?' She asked and I giggled as I shook my head. She scoffed at my answer before she started helping herself to some food for breakfast.

However, her peace wasn't to last forever, for someone cleared their throat's behind her. Both Mary and I turned to see who it was, but the minute I saw that it was Benedict, I immediately turned back to face the front.

A moment later, I heard him sit down beside her and I grinned to myself.

'Hey, Benedict,' I started, leaning forward so I could _actually _see him. 'We're having a party for Mary-'

'-And Kara-' Mary jumped in and I just rolled my eyes.

'-And me tonight in the Common Room. Want to come?' I finished and when he locked eyes with Mary for a second, and then turned back to me, I had my answer before he spoke it. It was a definite, hell-yeah.

'Good!' I smiled as I started munching away at my breakfast, deciding that I'd nip over to the Ravenclaw table and ask Clair once I was finished.

This party was going to be amazing!

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

'Did you bring it? Please tell me you brought it!' I pleaded with my sister as she entered the Common Room with Benedict. She turned to me and smiled before she showed me the hand that was hidden behind her back. Clasped in her hand was a LP and I squealed a little as she handed it over to me.

'What the hell is that?' James asked and I turned to glare at him.

'This is the untitled album of the most amazing rock band to ever grace the earth… Led Zeppelin!' I informed before I pulled the record from the case and placed it onto my record player that I had brought down just for this occasion. I placed the needle to the spot that would get me to the second song on the album, and I smiled widely as the spectacular voice of Robert Plant came blaring out of the speakers.

'_It's been a long time since I rock and rolled! It's been a long time since I did the Stroll. Ooh, let me get it back, let me get it back, let me get it back, baby, where I come from. It's been a long time, been a long time, Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time. Yes it has.' _I sang along as I sat beside Mary and Clair, my foot tapping along happily with the music.

'_It's been a long time since the book of love, I can't count the tears of a life with no love. Carry me back, carry me back, carry me back, baby, where I come from. It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time._' I smiled widely as Clair joined in singing with me, and as I looked around the little group, I saw that everyone was looking at us like we were insane. I laughed as the guitar came in and when I met Sirius' grey eyes, and saw that he wore a wide smirk on his face, my smile managed to grow wider.

'_Seems so long since we walked in the moonlight, making vows that just can't work right. Open your arms, opens your arms, open your arms, baby, let my love come running in._' I turned to look at Lily and the other girls and I gave them a look. A look that told them they had to sing the last line. With a mock grimace, that was quickly replaced by a true smile, they sang, '_It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time._'

We all finished with a loud laugh and I turned the sound down a little as the next song, "The Battle of Evermore" came on.

'I thought your favourite band was those Queen men.' James chimed in and I shrugged softly as I helped myself to some of the food that the boys had brought with them.

'They are. But no one can deny that Led Zeppelin is the best rock band there's ever been. No one will ever be as good as them. Not even Queen.' I replied before taking a large bite from the chocolate eclair that I had picked up. I had no idea how they managed to get it, but I wasn't protesting. They were delicious. I swear, one day, I'd have to ask them how to get into the kitchens… though I doubt they'd tell me.

'I love these.' I sighed softly as I take another bite, but when I heard the other girls starting to chat away to Mary, I got up from my seat and walked over so I was sitting next to the boys instead. I had already got the lowdown of what happened, and I wasn't really that keen on hearing it again.

They raised a questioning eyebrow at me.

'I don't want to hear them talk about Mary's stay in hospital again, that's all.' I sighed as I looked over to my best friend who was looking a bit uncomfortable about having to recount her stay at St. Mungo's.

'Well, that's understandable.' Remus' stated and I raised my head to him and gave him a kind smile.

I leaned across and helped myself to another chocolate eclair, and when I took another bite, I moaned, 'These make me very happy!'

They all laughed and I couldn't help but join in, now would be a good time to ask them how to get to the kitchens, but I knew they wouldn't tell me. We had _just _gotten by the first name basis, I hardly felt it was time to start sharing each other's secrets.

'So, who's the members of Led Zeppelin?' Sirius asked with a small wink and I giggled.

'Uh, Robert Plant is the lead singer. John Paul Jones is the bass and keyboard player. John Bonham is the drummer. And the very sexy Jimmy Page is the guitar player.' I said and when I met his gaze again, I could see confusion there.

'What?'

'"Sexy"?' He questioned and I giggled again.

'Aye, sexy. You should see him. Damn. Long, black curly hair. Amazing cheekbones, and the way he plays his guitar.' I trailed off with a noise somewhere between a sigh and a moan. 'He's God. Honestly. And I'm not the only one that thinks so. Clair? Who's God?'

'Jimmy bloody Page!' She replied immediately, her eyes sparkling at the mention of him. 'Well, he's the Dark God. Robert Plant is the Golden God.' She added after a moment of deliberation, before she turned back to Mary and the girls.

I laughed as I turned back to the boys, but before I could say another word, a familiar tune flooded the room. And people were still talking.

'Everyone SHUT UP!' I shouted and they all turned to me with a mixture of shock and confusion written all over their faces. I didn't say anything, but I leaned across and turned the volume up so I could listen the magical "Stairway to Heaven".

'No one talks during "Stairway to Heaven".' I warned just before Robert started to sing and I was lost.

And after the song was finished, I was sure I converted all the Pure-Bloods in that room to lovers of Muggle music; and Led Zeppelin in particular, because it was the only thing played for the rest of the night.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Eventually, the Easter holidays ended, and classes were back on as usual. Every single teacher was stressing just how important these OWLs were and it was hard to get away from them. It didn't matter what class you went to, they would all say the same. It got tiring after a while.

'I swear, if he starts on this as well, I'm going to go insane.' I declared as we walked to our Defence Against the Dark Arts class. The girls muttered in agreement. I looked around me but couldn't see the boy's anywhere. It was weird now, I was so used to them being around that it wasn't right when they weren't.

We entered the classroom and greeted Professor O'Connor with a wide smile.

'Now, class, we are going to practising a difficult spell today; I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of you aren't successful, but I'm teaching you it because it could help get you a better grade during you OWL examination. The spell is the Patronus Charm, does anyone know what it is?'

'The spell used to repel Dementors.' I answered without raising my hand. Lily slowly lowered her hand, looking at me disapprovingly. What can I say? I had realised quite soon that Professor O'Connor didn't care much about the whole raising hand thing.

'Well done, Ms. MacNeil.' He congratulated with a smile upon his face. 'Do you know how to conjure one?'

'The incantation is _Expecto Patronum _and you need to picture the most powerful, happiest memory you can think of.'

His smile widened, 'Well done again, Ms. MacNeil. Ten points to Gryffindor.'

I grinned widely, and if if I say so myself, rather smugly.

'Well done, MacNeil.' A voice whispered in my ear and I whipped my head around to find Sirius standing beside me, a grin on his lips. His friends and the girls hadn't noticed my jump, and I was thankful for that. They continued to look forward, listening to the teacher. I just stared forward but had only one thought in mind.

'Oh, so we're back to last name basis, Black?' I queried as I pursed my lips slightly in annoyance.

He chuckled, 'No. I just thought it called for a "MacNeil" that's all. Old habits die hard, Kara, you know.'

I turned my head to look at him, and when I met his grey eyes I rolled my eyes at him. He chuckled again.

'Anyway, here,' he stated, before he grabbed my hand and placed something into it. It was a small package. I looked down at it in confusion, before I turned to look at him again. He grinned. 'The guys and I realised that we didn't get you a birthday present, so we chipped in a got this. It's not much, but I think you'll love it.'

'You didn't have to.' I muttered before I looked back to Professor O'Connor. He was explaining the basics behind the Patronus Charm, and whilst I knew I should've been listening, I was more interested in seeing what they had gotten for me.

Beside me, I saw Sirius shrug at my statement, and I smiled softly before I started to unwrap the present. Under the paper was a plain, white box and I furrowed my brows as I looked at it. Sirius took the paper from my hand and I looked up to check what the Professor was doing; when I knew it was still safe, I opened the box up and when I saw what was inside, I couldn't help myself, I burst into laughter.

Suddenly, the whole class was looking at me, and Professor O'Connor was looking at me with a mixture of disappointment and confusion.

'What is it Ms. MacNeil?' He asked and my eyes widened as I raised my free hand to cover my mouth, and hid the hand holding the box behind my back.

'Nothing, Professor. I am so sorry but I was just trying to picture my powerful, happy memory and I came across one memory in particular and I couldn't help myself. I am so sorry for disrupting the class, I really am.' I lied through my teeth, and I could still feel everyone's eyes on me. But I just kept my eyes forward and continued to look at Professor O'Connor.

He stared at me for a moment, before his lips broke into a wide smile, 'This is what we all need, class, to focus hard on the task. I won't ramble on anymore, I want you to find a place in the next room and start practising. Don't get disheartened if you do not succeed, it is an extremely powerful spell.'

He clapped his hands and signalled for the class to follow him through to the other room that we did practical spells in. Before I moved, I sat the box - that contained nothing more than a chocolate eclair in it - on my desk and turned back to the boys.

'Well, thank you for that amazing present.' I chuckled as I drew my wand from the pocket of my robes, before I pulled them off. I hated casting spells with that stupid robe billowing out around me. How the professors did it, I have no idea!

'That lie was smooth as hell.' Sirius informed and I just rolled my eyes before I headed into the room and walked over to stand by Mary and the girls ready to try and do this bloody charm.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

'Smart asses.' I hissed as I watched Sirius' Patronus, a large Irish Wolfhound, run around the room, chasing James' stag. They turned and grinned at me, and like a child, I stuck my tongue out at them before turning back and looking down at my wand. I pursed my lips before I decided I'd had enough. After grunting, I moved over and sat down on one of the benches by myself and buried my face in my hands.

'Don't beat yourself up.' I heard him mutter and I looked up and offered him a smile. He returned it before he sat down beside me.

'That's easy for you to say, Sirius. You've got a full corporeal Patronus running around the room.'

'What memory are you using?'

'I don't know. I know it's not powerful enough… I don't have any happy, _happy _memories.' I admitted as I stared at my hands that were twirling my wand about.

'You've got to be kidding me.' He replied and I shrugged in response. 'There's got to be something! You told me that your dad used to dance you around the room when you were a kid.'

A smile pulled at my lips, 'Yeah. We would dance to music by Led Zeppelin and that. There was this one time we were dancing to "Stairway to Heaven" and told me he couldn't wait to dance like that at my wedding. Though that meant giving me up, so it'd have to be to someone worthy.' I chuckled as tears started to well in my eyes for some reason; not tears of sadness but tears of happiness.

'Try the spell again. Hold on to that feeling, and try the spell.' He whispered and I turned to look at him before sighing. I had a feeling this would end in disaster anyway, but I decided to listen to him. I pulled myself off the bench and walked onto the floor again.

I closed my eyes and focused on that memory, the feeling of happiness and pride and excitement I felt at that moment. Dad meant everything to me, and the image of him walking me down the aisle was enough to make me _want _to get married, and not just do what Craig and Corinne were doing; just living together. My mind started to paint a picture, me dressed in a white dress and my dad walking beside me, as we walked down the aisle towards my future husband - who had no face at this moment.

I opened my eyes and ignored the sting in my cheeks from smiling so wide.

'_Expecto Patronum_.' I whispered as I flourished my wand and I focused on the end of my wand as a silver light poured out of it, my eyes widened as a large, St. Bernard dog appeared and came to stand in front of me. I laughed loudly before I moved my wand slightly and watched as the St. Bernard started to follow my wand. 'Wow!'

It only lasted for a split second before it disappeared once more. I bit my lip before I turned around and looked at Sirius who was watching me with a wide smirk on his face. I walked back over to him and sat down next to him, before I took a large breath and did something that I hoped wasn't too stupid or forward. When he turned his body to look at me, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into an embrace.

'Thank you, Sirius.' I whispered in his ear before I pulled back from him and smiled.

He cleared his throat before he shrugged, 'It's no problem.'

I nodded once before I stood and walked away from him, moving back over to the girls who started to congratulate me.

But I could still feel his eyes burning a hole into my back.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I was waiting outside McGongall's office. I had been summoned not that long ago for my careers advice meeting that was mandatory for every Fifth Year student. It basically consisted of you going and talking to your Head of House about what you wanted to do when you left Hogwarts, and if you didn't know, they'd try and help you think of something. It was a good idea, if I was honest, but I already knew what I wanted to do, and I knew what subjects I had to get good grades in and what I would have to do once I left the school. But it was something that I _had _to attend, so here I was.

'Ms. MacNeil, if you could come in.' Professor McGonagall pulled me from my thoughts and I stood from my seat with a smile in her direction. I smoothed my skirt down as I entered her office. I'll be honest, it wasn't the first time I had been in here; there was a couple of times that I had said or done a couple of things that ended in me getting sent here, and that ended in me getting detention from her. It didn't happen often, but I couldn't deny that it hadn't happened.

'Sit.' She waved at the seat that was there and I nodded before I sat down and looked at her. She pushed a tin of shortbread in front of me, 'Would you like one, Ms. MacNeil?'

'Aye, please.' I answered before I reached and took a small biscuit from the tin. 'Thanks, Professor.'

'Now, Ms. MacNeil, do you have any idea which career you would like?'

'Well, I was thinking a Magizoologist or working within the Ministry for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like my mum… but I'd rather be a Magizoologist, more contact with the creatures then.' I confessed before I took a bite out of my shortbread.

She hummed in response before she started reading something from a piece of parchment.

'Your Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures are at an excellent standard. Potions, Astronomy, Charms and Herbology aren't as good as they could be, so I think a little more work is needed there. And I don't even know what's happened to History of Magic, Ms. MacNeil, your barely making a grade, but thankfully you are.'

I bit my lip as she went through my grades and swallowed hard when she mentioned History of Magic. I didn't want to blame it on the professor, but she surely must know!

'Well, if this is a path you wish to pursue, I'd recommend keeping Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology as your electives, and making sure you don't slip with the vitals; Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions and Transfiguration, of course.' She informed and I decided to simply nod and not let it slip that I already knew this; that my mum had told me this.

'Take this away with you Ms. MacNeil.' She added before she handed me a small pamphlet. Before I could really look at it, she was telling me to leave her office and to tell Marlene to come down.

'Goodbye, Professor McGonagall.' I muttered before I opened the door and left through it, shutting it behind me.

On my way to the Common Room, I opened the pamphlet and started to flick through it. It was all about Magizoology, there was some things that I didn't know but most of it I did, but either way I decided to keep it nonetheless.

'Marlene, she's ready for you now.' I declared the minute I walked through the Portrait Hole and noticed them sitting there. I dumped my bag onto the floor before I stole the seat that Marlene had previously been sitting in.

'How was it?' Lily asked as she put down her quill and stopped in writing her essay for Potions.

'Uh, not bad. She pretty much told me everything I knew anyway, but it's out of the way, so that's something.' I reclined my head back and closed my eyes.

'Who knows. I may just become a normal Muggle vet like my dad.' I declared with a chuckle, before I opened my eyes and pulled my head up off the back of the couch and scanned the Common Room. My eyes fell upon the four boys huddled in the corner of the room, and on one in particular.

Almost as if sensing my eyes on him, Sirius lifted his head but before he turned around and could see it was me, I looked away.

Though something told me that he knew it was me anyway.

* * *

_**So... what did you think? What are you making of Sirius and Kara's growing relationship? **_

_**This is the only story being updated right now - okay, I tell a lie. I'm also posting a new story soon. A Supernatural one, so if you like that and wanna check it out, that'd be awesome! It's not up yet, but it will be soon. Hang on... here's the summary: **Highway to Hell. - __The universe is made up of different realms and possibilites. Somehow, a trio is plucked from one and sent to another. The only problem is Deanna, Samantha and Cassie land in a world where they also exist as Dean, Sam and Cas. With no idea how to get back, all six of them learn to live with each other and begin to share the secrets of their own realm, as they try to get things back to normal. Genderswap and AU._

**___So, yeah. That's it really. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! I'm kinda addicted to them! xD_**

**___~Charlotte.x_**


	14. Chapter XIV

**_A quick update for all you lovely people! Hope you enjoy it! :D_**

* * *

_~If I really love you then I gotta learn to let go,  
Memories won't leave me the hell alone.~_

_James Michael - Learn to Hate You._

* * *

**Chapter XIV.**

Before I knew it, OWLs were upon us. The exams would be split over two weeks, and then that'd be us, near enough. We'd have a few days and then we'd be on the Hogwarts Express, going back home for the summer holidays again.

It was weird to admit that another year was by. We were near enough finished with our Fifth Year at Hogwarts! Where had time went?

'What questions do you think we'll be asked for Defence on Thursday?' Marlene asked as I swallowed my toast, drawing me from my thoughts of how fast time passes by.

It was currently Sunday, our last day of "freedom" before the exams started tomorrow with Charms.

'Who cares about the questions? I'm more concerned about the spells that they'll ask us to do!' I retorted, thinking that my worry was the right one. Most questions are the ones we get asked in class, so, that's easily practised and remembered. Spells could easily go wrong; they could ask us ones that are harder than normal, or ones that we didn't practise often. What if they asked for a Patronus Charm? I'd be so screwed.

'What if they ask us to perform a Patronus?' I enquired, and they all looked at me as if I had suddenly grown three heads. 'What?'

'They will ask us that. For extra credit. It doesn't matter if you can't do it, but they _will _ask us if we can perform one and if we can, we get extra credit. Professor O'Connor told us that when we we first learnt the spell.' Lily replied and I frowned in reply. Why didn't I know that?

'But you were probably too busy talking to Sirius Black to have heard that, right?' Marlene jumped in and my eyes immediately narrowed. But then I realised that what she was saying _was _true. It had been the lesson after my birthday, and he was telling me that he brought my birthday present from them to the class. I _had_ been too busy talking to Sirius Black to have heard that.

'Shut it.' I muttered instead, not really wanting to admit that aloud.

The girls just laughed, and I rolled my eyes before pushing away my now empty breakfast plate.

'Ready to go to the library then head outside to study?' I enquired, and they all nodded their heads in reply.

We stood from our table and then made our way to the library. We grabbed a few books before heading to the edge of the Black Lake, settling down on the bank. We opened the books, and Lily and Dorcas started to read away at the books, Mary and I started to quiz each other on the things we expected to come up on our Charms exam; both the practical and written, whilst Marlene simply looked around herself.

'Aren't you going to study, Marly?' I enquired, stopping mid-question when I realised that she hadn't even opened the book she had pulled out.

She sighed, 'Yeah, I guess so. It's just… it's too warm to be studying!' She finished with a whine and I just rolled my eyes.

'I know, but if you fail Charms this year, well, you'll have to retake it in Sixth Year, leading to you staying on another year to finally take it as a NEWT.' I replied and I could see the horror pass over her face.

My plan worked.

'I am _not _doing that!' She exclaimed, before she pulled the book out of my hand and started to join in with Mary and I's quizzing.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

The Charms exam wasn't too bad. The written side of it was to explain the Levitation Charm, Cheering Charm and the Counter-Charm for the hiccups. By explain, you had to write down what the incantation was, the movement of the wand and the purpose behind each charm. I was quite happy with the Charms we had to explain, so I felt I did not too bad with that side.

I also felt I did not too bad with the practical side of the exam, as well. We had to demonstrate the Levitation Charm, as well a Colour Change Charm and a Growth Charm, all of which I found quite easy. Then there was a much more fun spell we had to do; we had to take a egg cup and make it do cartwheels. I managed mine perfectly, as did the girls and from what I heard, the boys managed all of that perfectly as well.

There was one incident, of a girl from Hufflepuff, Sarah Wellington, who sent her egg cup flying and nearly took the examiners eye out. All I could think was that I was never going to chose that profession; an examiner. It seemed dangerous as hell!

Tuesday was the Transfiguration Spell; the written was to explain a Switching Spell, and I realised as I came out and looked through my books that I had missed out a few points, so I knew I would not be getting an Outstanding on that. The practical went a bit better, as it was a Vanishing Spell, something I had been working hard on but still, knowing that I had messed up the written side of things meant that I wasn't getting an 'O' like I really wanted.

Wednesday was Herbology, which was the first exam that I felt completely confident with. There was no practical side to the OWL Herbology exam, only written, and it was just to write an essay on the Fanged Geranium; how to handle it, how to care for it, how to recognise it, what parts are helpful, the use of the plant, how to harvest it, all those basic questions, and I can honestly say that I nailed it.

We were currently at Thursday, which was finally our Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, because this was such a large subject and both parts of the exam (the written and practical) were mentally stimulating, and thus mentally tiring, we would do the written side of the exam in the morning, have a little break and then head for the practical in the afternoon. It was the only exam where we were allowed a large, one-and-a-half hour break, unlike the usual fifteen minutes.

The girls and I walked out of the Great Hall, having finished the written exam. Instead of heading to the library or Common Room, we decided to head straight outside, having been stuck inside for near enough two hours writing about Defence.

'After exams are over, I plan on doing absolutely no reading whatsoever for _weeks_! My brain is exhausted already! And I still have five exams left!' I whined, dropping down onto the grass by the bank of the Black Lake. I sat my bag down as well, then rolled so my head was resting on it as I was lying on my back.

'I know what you mean! My head feels like it's ready yo explode.' Dorcas concurred and I just make a small noise in agreement. If I made another sentence, I'd probably lose the incantation for a spell that would probably come up in the practical of the Defence exam. My brain could only hold so much; if I added anymore, or used it more than necessary, I'd probably end up losing the vital stuff!

We're suddenly pulled from our little, meaningless complaints when Lily suddenly hissed, 'What the _hell_ do they think they are doing?'

I frowned and sat up, following her eye line and found the four boys crowding around Snivellus.

_Shit_.

Dorcas, Marlene, Mary and I all looked around ourselves, trying to figure out what to do in this situation; wondering whether to try and calm Lily down or not. But the minute we looked back over at them, and saw Snape being hoisted upside down by the new spell that had been going around (_Levicorpus) _we knew we didn't have a chance in calming her down.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and before we could say another word she was on her feet and marching over to the two boys that were making her "best friend"'s life a living hell.

'Should we… I dunno… help?' Marlene questioned and I realised then that Lily could handle it herself, and that we probably shouldn't interfere. After all, none of us liked Snape anyway, and whilst we didn't like the way the boys were treating him - mostly because of Lily's sake - our protests would be half-assed.

'No. Let Lily handle it. We'd only get in her way, and let's face it, when she gets started, she'll cut down anyone in her path.' I muttered and the girls nodded in agreement.

We turned our attention back to the fight that was taking place, straining our ears to try and hear what was going on, without gathering in a circle around them like everyone else was.

Things were going just like a normal fight between James and Lily, then we all heard it.

Mudblood.

All four of us shot to our feet, unable to believe that he had actually called her that! Snape! Snape had called Lily a Mudblood! And all because she was trying to help him? I _knew_ he was nothing but a slimy coward.

Lily looked flabbergasted, but the minute James tried to make him apologise, she seemed to snap. Before we knew it, the fight was over and Lily was marching back over to us.

'Are you okay?' Dorcas quietly questioned and Lily's jaw set.

'Yes. I am. If that's what he really thinks of me, then good, at least I know where I stand. _Snivellus _can deal with them on his own from now on.' She hissed and we were all momentarily stunned with Lily calling him by the nickname that James and Sirius had came up with.

And whilst I was glad that, hey, Lily was no longer friends with Snape, I didn't want it happening like this; this way caused her pain, even though she was trying her hardest not to show it.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I walked out of the Great Hall, heading up to the Common Room with Remus. We had just finished our Ancient Runes exam, which was just translating a passage of Ancient Runes.

The practical side of the Defence exam went surprisingly well, and when they asked me if I could do the Partronus Charm, I said "sometimes", and that seemed to be what they wanted to hear for they asked me to try it. After taking several deep breaths, I finally said the incantation and my St. Bernard appeared once more. With Sirius' advice rattling around in my head, I had managed to produce a Patronus again, getting me extra credit.

I still couldn't get over that.

'So, how do you think you did?' I asked, looking sideways at Remus as we made our back to the others. They had Divination instead of Ancient Runes, but the Divination exam wouldn't be until next week.

'Hmm… not to bad. Maybe enough to get an "E". What about you?'

'About the same, if I'm honest.' I muttered before I suddenly realised something. 'You got that the passage was about Dragons, right?'

He chuckled, 'Yes, Kara, I translated it and it meant Dragons.'

I let out a sigh of relief. 'Thank God.'

Remus gave the password to the Fat Lady's Portrait and we both climbed into the Common Room.

'How'd you get on?' The girls asked the minute I sat down, and I just shrugged. Remus gave me a small smile and then headed over to James, Sirius and Peter. Ever since the "incident", they hadn't dared come near Lily, and with good reason. I'm sure if they had tried they would find themselves on the end of some horrible hexes.

'Not too bad. We both think we did enough to pass. So, that's something, right?' I declared and they all muttered in agreement.

I was glad that we had the weekend off now, but I knew that it would be filled with even more studying for the remaining exams; Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy and History of Magic for me. But at least Remus and I finished a day earlier than the others. I was still so happy about that.

'So, how is everyone feeling about the exams we've already sat?' Lily questioned and the rest of us just rolled their eyes.

'I think I've managed at _least _an "E" in all of them, so I'm happy.' Marlene replied as she brushed her golden hair back behind her ear and reached for her Potions book.

'Aye, same really.' Mary agreed, and both Dorcas and I just hummed in agreement as we started digging out our books on Potions as well. I felt safe enough with Care of Magical Creatures that I thought I could keep the studying of that to a minimum; it was like second nature to me. I was dropping History of Magic and Astronomy next year anyway, so I felt that I could let the studying on those drop just a little, meaning that Potions really was the only subject I _really _needed to study for.

'That's it, we're not going to have a bit of a discussion on it? Try and work out our grades?'

'No, we're not, because we need to study for the upcoming ones, and we can't predict them! I'd rather be surprised when I get the letter through; I'd rather not work myself up, then be disappointed.' I snapped as I flicked the book open at the page giving information on Polyjuice Potion (that was bound to come up, right?).

Suddenly, my face fell and I dropped the book so it was resting on my knees.

'Oh God, I've turned into you, Lils!'

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Monday came before I wanted it to, bringing the hellish Potions exam with it. Despite all the revision I had done on Friday, Saturday, Sunday _and _the morning before the exam, I still didn't feel ready for it. There was only one part to the Potions exam; - a written exam. Kind of like the Herbology one. It wasn't _too _bad, seeing as it was writing about the Polyjuice Potion, something that I had made sure to study. I _knew _there was a chance it would be the subject of the written exam. But if I'm honest, I really don't think I did enough to get an "O" in that. Hell! I maybe didn't even do enough to get an "E"… no, I did. I know I did. I _had _to get an "E", otherwise I was doomed. No… I got an "E". I was sure of it.

The Care of Magical Creatures exam was _so _much easier, and I walked out of that feeling that yes, I got an "O", and if there was such a thing, I would've got an "O+"! Because of the kind of class Care of Magical Creatures is, it was only a practical exam, and I nailed _every single _test set up by the examiner. The first one was to identify an Knarl that was hidden amongst a dozen hedgehogs, and that was easy because if you threw some food down, all the hedgehogs would go to it and start eating, the little Knarl would instead think it was a trap and start trashing the garden. That was easy enough.

The second part was demonstrate the correct handling of a Bowtruckle, then you had to feed and clean out a Fire Crab without getting burned (which I didn't, but some idiot ended up losing both his eyebrows because he wasn't careful), and then the last part was that we were placed in front of a large selection of food, and we had to pick out what we would give to a sick Unicorn to help it heal.

So, after all of that, I was the only one of the gang to walk out of that exam feeling confident. Marlene and Dorcas had also sustained burns from their Fire Crab, though not as bad as the idiot without any eyebrows. Lily picked a hedgehog instead of the Knarl, Mary got attacked by the Bowtruckle, and from what I heard of the boys, they all picked the wrong thing to give the Unicorn.

'You all suck, y'know that? Remind me to _never _ask you to look after my animals.' I declared as we made our way to the Great Hall for food.

Wednesday was the Astronomy exam, and the written was to write down all of Jupiter's moons, which I knew I sucked at. The practical was then to look through a telescope and fill in a star chart with the _exact _position of the planets and stars. Needless to say, the high and confidence from my Care of Magical Creatures exam was quickly blown out.

Mary and I had split away from the rest of the girls, who were heading straight to the Common Room. We headed for the library instead, hoping to get another book for the History of Magic test tomorrow.

We walked back to the Common Room, the new book in Mary's bag but the second we turned the corner, we came face to face with Snape shouting at the Fat Lady, asking her to let him in because he needed to talk to Lily.

Mary and I looked at each other, having plans to turn and back away, knowing we couldn't say the password in front of him, but before we could, he turned and spotted us.

'MacNeil. MacDonald.' He said, not even questioning, just saying our names and saying them as if they were poison.

'Aye. What d'you want Snape?' I questioned, still not moving any closer to him or the Fat Lady, who was looking at him with distaste.

'You know this young boy? Girls, I thought you had better taste.' She muttered and we just grinned.

'Trust us, we do.' Mary said before her eyes landed back on Snape. 'What d'you want, Snivellus?'

He immediately sneered at the nickname and his hand automatically went to his wand. As usual, seeing him go for his led to me going for mine.

'Not the best way to act with someone you want a favour from, is it, Snape?' I retorted, not lowering my wand but feeling that I wouldn't actually need to use it.

He ground his teeth together before he slowly lowered his, and I obligingly did the same.

'What. Do. You. Want?' I repeated, emphasising each word slowly, hoping to get this over and done with. I wanted to get into the Common Room, and I wanted to stop looking at this greasy thing.

'Can you just tell Lily to come out? I need to talk to her!'

'Why? So you can call her Mudblood again? Insult her when all she's done is try to help you?' I snapped and he actually looked at the ground, ashamed of himself. But when he raised his head, he looked like he was going to start telling me the "whole story" and I couldn't take that, so I just raised my hand and sighed. 'I'll tell her you're out here, but I'm not promising anything.'

'Tell her I'll sleep out here if I need to! I need to see her!'

I rolled my eyes before moving forward to the Portrait Hole. When I realised he was still there, I was quick to cast the _Muffilato _spell, so that he couldn't hear it. I pulled it off him the minute the door swung open before I climbed in, Mary shortly following me.

'Lily, Snape's outside the Portrait Hole.' She stated the minute we walked in, throwing down the bag and sitting on the couch beside her.

'He's still out there?'

'Aye, and he's threatening to sleep there until you see him.' I added and she groaned before she pulled herself off the couch and made her way out to little nuisance.

'I still can't believe she's going out there.' Marlene muttered but I could understand.

'It's Snape. If he says he's gonna sleep there, he's gonna sleep there, and just think what _they'd_,' I nodded my head over to the boys sitting in the corner, James watching the Portrait Hole that Lily had just disappeared through. 'Would do if they got to him first.'

'Hmm… yeah, I see what you mean.' She hummed before she picked up the book she had discarded when we came in. 'I am dreading this exam tomorrow.'

'MacNeil!' A voice shouted and I frowned, looking up from my bag, where I was digging out my own books on History. My eyes immediately darted over to the boys, who then waved me over the minute they realised I was looking at them.

Without saying anything to the girls, I stood and walked over to them, standing in front of them and crossing my arms over my chest.

'Aye?'

'Do you think she'll forgive him?' James asked the minute I had finished and I rolled my eyes. Of course. That'd be what they wanted to talk about.

'Truthfully? No. They've been on short fuses since the thing with Mary, and I think this will push her over the edge. So, no, I can't see her forgiving him anytime soon.'

He looked positively relieved.

'But,' I continued, watching as the relieved smile fell off his face the second I spoke up again. 'I can't see her forgiving you anytime soon, either. So I really don't know what you're so concerned about. She tolerated you before, but what you did - the both of you -' I added, casting a glance at Sirius. 'Picking on him just because you were _bored_? That's shallow, pathetic, childish and downright wrong. So, I'd kiss goodbye to those little playful fights, because the only time you're going to hear from her is when she's seriously, _seriously _pissed with you.'

I then turned on my heel and headed back over to the couch with the girls. I sat down and picked my book back up, trying to get as much studying in as possible. Just because I wasn't planning on taking it next year, didn't mean I didn't want a good grade.

I was determined to not get any "A"s. I'd be seriously disappointed in myself if I did.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Turned out Lily _did _completely sever all ties with Snape. She came back in not that long after I snapped at the boys, and ended up telling us that that was them. He was no longer her friend. She had asked him straight if he still planned on joining the Death Eaters and he didn't answer her, didn't say yes, but didn't say no either. And Lily knew him, knew that the silence was a loud shout of "yes". She was disgusted with him, told him their lives were too different now and that they couldn't be friends anymore. She wasn't going to forgive him.

I hated the git, but that couldn't have been easy on him; I wouldn't have been easy on anyone.

But we didn't have much time to think about it, or discuss it and make Lily feel better for it, because we had to study for the bloody History of Magic exam. Which was what we were just by with. It was the most boring and pathetic exam out of them all, and I seriously felt like falling asleep whilst I was writing my essays. Essays on the wand legislation, the Goblin riots of the 18th century (those Goblins were never bloody happy!), the statue of secrecy breach, the formation of the International Confederation of Wizards and we also had to explain why the Warlocks of Liechtenstein refused to join.

Basically, by the end of it, I was glad that I was never looking at History book again unless I wanted to, and that I wouldn't have to put up with Binns ever again. I mean, I liked History, but all of that was just pathetic and boring. Why couldn't they teach us fun stuff?

But this also meant I was free now. I had done all of my exams. Everyone else - except from Remus - still had to do their Divination exam, but we were free!

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

By the time both of our groups left the Great Hall after taking part in their Divination exam on Friday, Remus and I were sat at the Black Lake, both of us with a book in our hands, reading and sometimes chatting when we wanted to, but other than that, it was just a nice, comfortable silence spent with a friend.

'Thought you weren't gonna read for weeks after the exam?' Marlene questioned as she sat down next to me. Even though things hadn't gotten better between James, Sirius and Lily, we all ended up sitting together.

'Aye, well, I changed my mind.' I muttered, placing the bookmark on the page and then folding the book shut. I slipped in back in my bag and then sighed, falling backwards until I was lying down, my head brushing Mary's leg.

'What're you two up to?' Marlene's voice drew me from my blissful quietness but I didn't get a chance to do anything about it, for suddenly hands were tight around my ankles and wrists, and I was being hoisted upwards.

I screamed.

I started to thrash but when I heard James and Sirius' laughter, I fell still for a moment.

'You complete bast-' I was cut off when they suddenly swung me back, propelled me forward and let go. Another scream rippled through my mouth as I flew through the air for a second or two, before I landed in the tepid water of the Black Lake.

The minute I resurfaced, the boys were still laughing, Marlene, Dorcas and Mary had even joined in, and even Lily had a tiny amused smile on her face.

'You son of a bitch.' I hissed before I swam over to the edge where they were still standing, hunched over as they continued to laugh. Without even thinking twice, I grabbed ahold of Sirius' hand and gave him a firm tug.

He fell into the water beside me and suddenly, it was my turn to laugh. The girls laughed louder this time, knowing that it was no longer at my embarrassment, it was Sirius' and even Lily actually laughed this time.

He resurfaced. I splashed him with even more water.

'Sure this is wise, Kara?' He questioned and I just rolled my eyes before splashing him with water again. Taking that as a sign, he started to splash me back. I couldn't stop laughing as he started to reach for me, trying to tickle me through the water, and pick me up, sometimes trying to pull me under.

My giggling got louder when he suddenly disappeared under the water, and then I felt his hand on my ankle. Taking a deep breath, I allowed him to pull me under and then I felt his arms around my waist, pulling me to his chest with a grin on his lips.

I felt my heart speed up, battering painfully against my chest as he did, when suddenly he propelled us upwards again and before we broke the surface, he let go of me.

Trying to cover up how flustered I was, I sent another little tidal wave at him, causing us both to burst out laughing again, and ease any tension that was there not five seconds ago.

I was just about to do it again, thinking that it'd help keep the tension at bay, when -

'Mr. Black and Ms. MacNeil, get out of the water!' Professor McGonagall's voice cut through our laughing, and Sirius and I froze. We both turned to look at McGonagall, before turning to each other and agreeing that, aye, we best get the hell out of the water before she ends up killing us.

As we pulled ourselves out of the Black Lake, forgetting about the large crowd that had gathered to watch us act like five year olds, McGonagall conjured two towels, handing on to Sirius, and then handing the last to me with a disapproving gaze, 'Ms. MacNeil, I expected more from you.'

I bowed my head whilst biting my lower lip.

'Now, get dried and return inside. Seeing as it's the last day, I shall let you away with it. Do _not _do it again.' She then turned, dispersing the crowd before heading back inside.

I wrapped the towel around me, and leaned down to gather my bag, but then I felt a hand on my lower back and I jumped, straightening up with my bag in my hand.

I locked eyes with Sirius' grey eyes, who had been picking up his bag too, resting his hand on my back for a bit of stability. He gave me a small, kind smile before he turned and headed inside with the boys, who were still laughing at him.

My eyebrows furrowed as I watched him go, and even as the girls steered me inside, telling me to get changed before I caught a cold, I could still feel the tingling on my lower back from where he had placed his hand.

* * *

_**Don't forget to review! It really makes my day! ;D**_

_**Will try to update asap! Until then!**_

_**~Charlotte.x**_


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